Ricciardo wins Azerbaijan GP, Stroll third

Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo profited from the chaos to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday, while Sebastian Vettel extended his championship lead over Lewis Hamilton.

The Australian secured his fifth career win, while Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas overtook 18-year-old Canadian Lance Stroll’s Williams in the closing meters to take second place.

“It was just a crazy race, with all the safety cars and the chaos,” Ricciardo said. “On the cool-down lap, I was just giggling like a schoolboy.”

It was an extraordinary performance from Stroll, the son of a billionaire, who faced heavy criticism earlier in the season.

“I’m just lost for words,” said Stroll, from Montreal, who earned his first podium finish. “Just lost out to Valtteri in the end, but still extremely happy with the result. I can’t describe how I feel, it’s beyond amazing.”

Stroll is the first Canadian to finish on an F1 podium since Jacques Villeneuve finished third at the German Grand Prix in 2001. Ironically, it was Villeneuve who has been one of Stroll’s highest profile critics. The retired driver told autoweek.com on June 13 that Stroll’s freshman year “is one of the worst rookie performances in the history of Formula 1.”

Vettel steered his Ferrari into fourth, just ahead of Hamilton’s Mercedes.

After eight races, Vettel leads Hamilton by 14 points in the drivers’ championship.

In a stop-start race, the safety car came out three times in quick succession before a red flag stopped the grand prix near the midway point because debris littered the track.

Shortly before that, Hamilton and Vettel were involved in an incident that threatens to sour their good relations.

While behind a safety car Hamilton, who was in the lead, appeared to slow his car right in front of Vettel, causing Vettel to drive into him. An irate Vettel then accelerated alongside Hamilton and appeared to deliberately swerve back into him.

Vettel was given a 10-second stop-go penalty, but Hamilton lost valuable time changing a loose headrest at the same time.

Hamilton was on Vettel’s tail on the last lap, but could not overtake.

The fact Ricciardo won from 10th on the grid, and that Bottas clawed his way back from last following an early incident, summed up a bizarre race.

“I had to overtake everyone. It just shows you should never give up,” Bottas said. “I really enjoyed it. It was a shame Daniel was too far away at the end but in the circumstances it was a good result.”

The race started at 5 p.m. local time with track temperatures at 53 degrees Celsius (127 Fahrenheit).

Hamilton was on pole position for the 66th time in his career, with Bottas second on the grid followed by Kimi Raikkonen in third and Vettel fourth.

Hamilton got away cleanly, but Raikkonen clipped Bottas and bumped his own Ferrari into the wall, and Vettel surged past them into second place.

But Bottas had to pit on the second lap for a new front wing, dropping to last, while Raikkonen complained of damage to the rear of his car.

Up ahead, Hamilton asked over the radio where Bottas was, perhaps concerned his teammate would not be able to protect him from Vettel later in the race.

Force India’s Sergio Perez jumped up to third, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen fourth ahead of Raikkonen.