Rosberg back on track with victory in Baku, Hamilton struggles for P5; Vettel a distant 2nd for Ferrari & Perez scores another podium for Force India with impressive P3

After three disappointing finishes in a row that renewed questions about Nico Rosberg’s mental fortitude, the German Mercedes pilot and Driver’s Championship points leader rallied in the European Grand Prix, storming to victory in the first-ever race at the challenging Baku, Azerbaijan street circuit. After a beautifully clean getaway from pole, Rosberg ran away and hid, dominating the race in clean air and leaving others behind him to scramble for points and positions. It marked a return to form for Rosberg, who won his first four Grand Prix of the 2016 season but then scored a scant 16 points in the next three contests, all the while seeing his teammate and archival Lewis Hamilton creep ever closer to him.

Pics courtesy of GrandPrix247.com

But Hamilton, who had won the last two races in Monaco and Canada, had a poor weekend at this virgin and technically demanding track. After the reigning two-time champion binned his Silver Arrow into the wall in Q3 on Saturday, relegating the fiery Englishman to 10th on the grid, Hamilton was unable to overcome his poor starting position in the race. Bedeviled by brake and ERS issues, as well as by the current regulations banning driver coaching from the pit wall, Hamilton struggled all race long, only finding the true pace of the car late on and coming home for a hardly satisfactory P5 finish. Combined with Rosberg’s win, Hamilton saw his points deficit balloon back out to a daunting but not insurmountable 24 after eight rounds of the championship. Knowing Hamilton, it will only serve to motivate him all the more in the upcoming races but this was indisputably a very good weekend for Rosberg.

Ferrari also had a good if not great weekend, with their top driver Sebastian Vettel taking P2 after a flawless 51-lap run, albeit over 16.5 in arrears of Rosberg’s blistering Mercedes. But Vettel’s teammate Kimi Raikkonen was pipped for the last podium position by upstart Sergio Perez of tiny Force India. With the rumors swirling about Ferrari scouting Perez for Raikkonen’s seat next year could it be that the race in Azerbaijan and Perez’s superior performance in it is a harbinger of the end of Raikkonen’s tenure at the Scuderia? To be fair it seemed like Perez had something special all weekend long in this inaugural run at Baku. The Mexican, affectionately known as Checo, qualified outright at P2, was penalized 5 grid spots for changing his gearbox after a Q3 shunt and then saw his team’s exceptional hard work in rebuilding the car rewarded with Sunday’s singularly impressive podium run. It’s no wonder Perez is being considered for bigger and better things, as he has matured into a rather special Grand Prix driver and making McLaren look rather foolish for dumping him after only one season in 2013.

Williams’ superlative straight-line speed saw Valtteri Bottas rewarded with a solid P6 and Felipe Massa less impressive but still able to nab the last championship point in P10. Daniel Ricciardo was again undone by questionable pit strategy after being called in for a dubious early tire change while the rest of the front runners pushed on through their graining issues on the opening laps and thrived. Ricciardo, who started alongside Rosberg in P2 after Perez’s penalty, could only muster P7, making it thee races in a row where Red Bull’s race strategists have dropped the ball and sacrificed valuable Constructors’ points. Teammate Max Verstappen was also dragged down by the same tire call but at least kept it out of the walls, as he hadn’t managed to do in Monaco, and came home safely in P8. Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the Top 10 with a decent P9, making it an excellent point scoring day for Force India.

Top 10 finishers of the European Grand Prix:

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

Perhaps the most surprising result in Baku was the total lack of Safety Car periods in the race. With the ultra-tight, borderline dangerous sections of the track in the old city, it seemed sure that there would be a massive pile up at some point. It never happened and all due credit to the drivers for running such a clean race on such an unknown and challenging street circuit. The F1 pilots showed one again why they are considered right best racers in the world. Better yet, that clean running allowed the beautiful Baku circuit to shine. Despite my (and others) misgivings about the safety of the track, the city really came across beautifully on Sunday, an amazing mix of medieval and modern architecture making for one of the more visually stunning, not to mention technically challenging, tracks on the F1 calendar. Let’s hope that Azerbaijan returns next year and that Formula 1 makes this beautiful street course even safer in 2017.

The next race weekend is in two weeks time from the Österreich in Austria. With the championship chase beginning to hit its summer stride it should be an excellent and hard-fought contest right in Red Bull’s backyard. Hope to see you then!