The Baku City Circuit is one of the most challenging venues on the Formula 1 calendar that punishes mistakes and rewards commitment and accuracy through its tight turns and high speed sweepers.
After a difficult weekend in Monaco where many drivers did not enjoy spotless performances, there were many impressive performances on display in Azerbaijan last weekend.
Here are the RaceFans driver ratings for the 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton – 7
Qualified: 7th (-2 places behind team mate)
+0.212s slower than team mate in Q3
Finished: 4th (-1 place behind team mate)
- Ran experimental settings on Friday that “didn’t feel great”
- Used experimental floor from Saturday that caused major discomfort in the car
- Cleared by stewards of driving “unnecessarily slowly” in Q2
- Had frustrating time trying to find a tow, qualifying seventh behind Gasly
- Held onto seventh at the start but came under pressure from Vettel
- Pitted under first Virtual Safety Car for hards but lost position to Vettel
- Gained tenth when Vettel ran off at turn three, then passed Ocon for ninth on lap 18
- Overtook Ricciardo for fifth, before pitting under second VSC for another set of hards, rejoining sixth
- Used fresh tyres to pass Tsunoda for fifth, then chased down and passed Gasly to secure fourth place finish
- Described driving as “most painful race I’ve experienced”
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George Russell – 7
Qualified: 5th (+2 places ahead of team mate)
-0.212s quicker than team mate in Q3
Finished: 3rd (+1 place ahead of team mate)
- Qualified “best of the rest” in fifth
- Held fifth at the start and fell slightly away from Sainz ahead until the Ferrari retired
- Pitted for hards under Virtual Safety Car, keeping fourth place as race resumed
- Inherited third place when Leclerc retired, pulling away from Gasly behind but dropping back from Perez
- Pitted for a second set of hards during second VSC, retaining third
- Ran a lonely final stint to complete the podium, 46 seconds behind Verstappen at the chequered flag
- Described Mercedes’ bottoming out during race as “pretty brutal”
Max Verstappen – 7
Qualified: 3rd (-1 place behind team mate)
+0.065s slower than team mate in Q3
Finished: Winner (-1 place ahead of team mate)
- Behind team mate in each practice session
- Third in every practice session before securing third on…
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