2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Post Race Statistics

Perez takes his second victory, Vettel records Aston Martin’s first podium finish in Formula 1 and Honda power secure consecutive victories for the first time since 1992. Here are the facts and statistics from the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix!

PEREZ TAKES VICTORY

Sergio Perez claimed his second Grand Prix victory, winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Pierre Gasly. Perez becomes the fifth driver to win a race with Red Bull as well as the fifth different driver to win in the five races held at Baku City Circuit.

Perez became the 77th driver to record multiple wins in Formula 1. He also recorded his eleventh top three finish, equalling the podium tallies of Chris Amon, Patrick Tambay and Jarno Trulli.

This was the first race that has been won from sixth on the grid since Lewis Hamilton won from sixth at the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix.

Perez’s win margin of 1.385 seconds was the smallest seen at the five races held so far at Baku City Circuit.

Red Bull recorded their second win at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix; their first since Daniel Ricciardo’s win in 2017. They remain the only team to win at Baku having not started on the front row of the grid.

With Max Verstappen having won the Monaco Grand Prix, Sergio Perez’s victory in Azerbaijan marked the first time that Honda power has won two consecutive F1 races since the 1992 Monaco and Canadian Grands Prix.

ON THE PODIUM

Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel became the first drivers to record three podium finishes in Azerbaijan.

After recording Aston Martin’s best ever F1 finish at the Monaco Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel recorded the team’s first ever podium result with second place in Azerbaijan. This was Vettel’s 122nd podium finish in F1; his first since the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix. In addition to his podium, Vettel also became the first Aston Martin driver to lead a Formula 1 race.

Vettel recorded Team Silverstone’s third podium result in Azerbaijan. He also ensured that Germany would become the first nation to record four podium finishes at Baku City Circuit.

With Lewis Hamilton finishing in fifteenth place, Sebastian Vettel is now the only driver to have scored in all five races at Baku City Circuit.

Pierre Gasly recorded the third podium finish of his career. He has now finished on all three steps of the podium in F1. Gasly ensured 2021 becomes the third consecutive season in which the Red Bull junior team has recorded at least one podium finish.

Gasly is the ninth different driver to finish on the podium in the five races held at Baku City Circuit.

For only the fifth time in the V6 hybrid era, all three podium finishers started outside of the top three on the grid. It was the first time in F1 that the drivers who started fourth, sixth and eleventh shared the podium places.

This was the first time that a Mexican, German and French driver have shared a podium in Formula 1.

The 2021 Monaco and Azerbaijan Grands Prix mark the first time that Mercedes have not finished on the podium at two consecutive races since the 2013 United States and Brazilian Grands Prix.

THE TOP TEN

Polesitter Charles Leclerc finished in fourth place. It was his third fourth place finish of the 2021 season. The last time that the polesitter finished in fourth place was the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix – a race for which Leclerc was also on pole.

Lando Norris scored points for the eleventh consecutive race. His fifth place finish means that his eighth place in the Spanish Grand Prix is the only time he has finished outside of the top five so far this season. He remains the only driver to finish in a better position than where he started at every race so far in 2021.

Norris’ fifth place is McLaren’s best ever result in Azerbaijan, beating their previous best of seventh, recorded in 2018 and 2019.

Finishing in sixth place, Fernando Alonso recorded his first top six finish since the 2018 Australian Grand Prix. Alonso’s sixth place is Alpine’s best result of the 2021 season to date.

Yuki Tsunoda recorded the best result of his Formula 1 career, finishing in seventh place. It was the best result for a Japanese driver in F1 since Kamui Kobayashi finished sixth at the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

With Gasly on the podium and Tsunoda in seventh, this was the first race in Azerbaijan in which both of the Red Bull junior team’s drivers have finished in the top three.

Kimi Raikkonen picked up the final point with a tenth place finish. It was the first time he scored since the 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. It’s the second consecutive Azerbaijan race in which Raikkonen has finished tenth.

THE OTHER FINISHERS

Mick Schumacher recorded his best F1 result to date with thirteenth place. It was the best result for a Haas driver since both Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen finished in the top thirteen at the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix. Schumacher moves up to seventeenth in the Drivers’ Championship as a result.

A Haas driver has finished in thirteenth place in every Grand Prix held so far at Baku City Circuit.

Finishing in fourteenth place, Nikita Mazepin recorded the best result of his Formula 1 career to date. He also became the first Russian driver to finish a Grand Prix at Baku City Circuit.

After locking up at the restart, Lewis Hamilton finished in a lowly fifteenth place. It marked the first time that Hamilton failed to score in a race which he has started since his retirement at the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix. It also marked the first time that Hamilton has finished a race but in a position outside of the points since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix. It’s only the eleventh time that Hamilton has finished a race without scoring.

This was Hamilton’s first fifteenth place finish in Formula 1. 11th, 14th, 17th, 19th and 20th are now the only positions in the top twenty in which he has not finished during his career.

With both Hamilton and Bottas finishing outside of the points, the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix became the first race at which Mercedes failed to score since the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix. It was also the first time both Mercedes drivers have finished a race in positions outside of the points since the 2012 United States Grand Prix.

THE RETIREES

Esteban Ocon was the first driver to retire from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He recorded his first retirement since last year’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Ocon’s DNF makes 2021 the fourth Azerbaijan Grand Prix in a row in which at least one of Team Enstone’s drivers has retired.

Lance Stroll crashed out of the race. He recorded his first retirement since the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, and the race became the third in Baku which one of Team Silverstone’s cars failed to finish.

George Russell failed to reach the chequered flag for the second time in 2021.

Max Verstappen crashed out of the race after suffering a tyre failure. He equalled Daniil Kvyat as the driver with the most retirements at Baku City Circuit, this being his third at the circuit.

The 2016 European Grand Prix remains the only race at Baku City Circuit in which both Red Bull drivers have reached the chequered flag.

Despite not finishing, Verstappen recorded the Fastest Lap of the race. This was the twelfth Fastest Lap of his career, moving him up to 33rd in the all-time list. It was the 70th Fastest Lap for Red Bull. They became the sixth team to reach 70 Fastest Laps, after Ferrari, Lotus, Williams, McLaren and Mercedes.

With neither Max Verstappen nor Lewis Hamilton scoring, Verstappen maintains the lead in the Drivers’ Championship. It means that not only has Baku had five different polesitters and five different winners – there has now also been a different championship leader after all five races at the circuit.

ROSBERG’S RECORD REMAINS

Five years on from racing here for the only time in his career, Nico Rosberg remains the driver to have led the most laps at Baku City Circuit. Rosberg led all 51 laps of the 2016 European Grand Prix. No other driver is yet to lead that many laps at the track.