{"id":15372,"date":"2018-05-09T00:57:14","date_gmt":"2018-05-09T05:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=15372"},"modified":"2018-05-09T00:57:14","modified_gmt":"2018-05-09T05:57:14","slug":"lewis-hamilton-wins-formula-1-azerbaijan-grand-prix-in-baku-lewis-hamilton-rides-his-luck-to-claim-victory-at-azerbaijan-grand-prix-after-red-bull-crash-sparks-chaos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=15372","title":{"rendered":"Lewis Hamilton Wins Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix In Baku, Lewis Hamilton Rides His Luck To Claim Victory At Azerbaijan Grand Prix After Red Bull Crash Sparks Chaos"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"Lewis Hamilton from MERCEDES won the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.\u00a0Thirteen drivers out of twenty were able to pass the Finish lane.\u00a0The 2018 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was held in Baku April 27.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Lewis Hamilton admitted he was lucky to claim one of the most fortunate victories of his Formula One career after he ended his six-race winning drought in Sunday’s\u00a0thrilling Azerbaijan Grand Prix.<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
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Hamilton departed Baku on Sunday night in charge of this season\u2019s championship for the first time after taking advantage of Valtteri Bottas\u2019s dramatic 220mph tyre blow-out, a stunning crash involving Red Bull team-mates Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, and Sebastian Vettel\u2019s overtaking gamble that backfired.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vettel had appeared on course to secure a commanding, and well-deserved victory which would have marked his third from the opening four rounds, only for the race to turn on its head when Ricciardo ran into the back of Verstappen with 11 laps to go.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Their collision, which on Sunday night provoked Red Bull team principal Christian Horner to demand both of his millionaire drivers apologise to the team\u2019s 800 staff at their Milton Keynes factory, paved the way for Bottas to lead by virtue of pitting for new tyres under the safety car.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Vettel was demoted to second and in attempting a gung-ho move for glory, fell of the track before crossing the line in fourth. Bottas\u2019s chances of victory were then sensationally scuppered when he ran over a piece of debris and suffered a high-speed puncture just three laps from the end. Suddenly Hamilton, who for most of this chaotic street fight in Baku appeared certain to lose further ground in the title race, now leads his Ferrari rival by four points.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI was really, really fortunate,\u201d an almost sheepish Hamilton said on Sunday night. \u201cIt was definitely a very untidy race from me, but I\u2019ve got to take it because I didn\u2019t give up and I kept pushing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI struggled with the tyres and I\u2019ve definitely got to go away from here and work even harder than before to make sure that there is not a repeat performance.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"\"I<\/span>ndeed this was not Hamilton\u2019s best performance. He ran off the road twice following uncharacteristic mistakes and spent parts of the race seemingly at odds with his team as he struggled to keep up with Vettel.<\/strong><\/p>\n

At one stage he even called for the event to be abandoned as a truck precariously dealt with Romain Grosjean\u2019s stricken Haas after the Frenchman crashed out under the safety car.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hamilton\u2019s victory, however, his first since October\u2019s United States Grand Prix, went some way to making up for his defeat at the opening round in Australia and thus igniting his quest for a fifth crown.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hamilton should have won in Melbourne only for a timing glitch by his Mercedes team see him lose out to Vettel.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel like justice or relief,\u201d Hamilton, 33, added. \u201cBut it was a reminder to me that in my whole life I have been through those experiences where you climb a hill and you feel like you are slipping down.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIf my normal level is eagle and birdie, then today I was shooting pars and bogeys.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Hamilton\u2019s team-mate Bottas hoped 10 beers would help him get over his heartbreak, while Vettel held his hands up for his costly move.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI am the captain of my own ship,\u201d Vettel said. \u201cI saw the gap and unfortunately it did not work out for me, but without a safety car it would have been a different race.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The safety car was called upon following an almost inevitable coming together of the Red Bull cars.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having earlier banged wheels, Ricciardo and Verstappen were at it again. On the longest and fastest straight on the calendar, Ricciardo lined up his overtake in the battle for fourth. But as Verstappen moved to his left at 220mph to cover off his team-mate, Ricciardo was left with little room for manoeuvre and thudded into the back of him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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I<\/span>n an instant, both drivers were wiped out of the race. Adrian Newey, Red Bull\u2019s technical boss, removed his headset in disgust and stormed straight from the pit wall to the garage. Horner sat motionless, aghast at what he had just witnessed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cThe most important thing is that they both recognise that what happened was unacceptable,\u201d Horner said. \u201cToday has resulted in the worst possible scenario, where you\u2019ve had both drivers make contact and retire from the grand prix. It is enormously disappointing. They are both in the doghouse.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Horner refused to apportion blame to either of his drivers. The stewards hauled both men before them in the hours after the race and determined they were equally at fault. Both were hit with reprimands.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Niki Lauda, the non-executive chairman for Mercedes and three-time world champion, however, accused Verstappen of weaving in his attempts to stop Ricciardo from passing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is Verstappen\u2019s third collision in as many races following run-ins with Hamilton, Vettel and now Ricciardo.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is 70 per cent Verstappen, and 30 per cent Ricciardo,\u201d Lauda said. \u201cIf you move on him all the time where can the poor guy go?\u201d Lauda added: \u201cIf I were the Red Bull team I would go home and cry. It is a disaster. I would bring them both into the office, and tell them how much less they will get paid for the damage they have done.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

MORE ON LEWIS HAMILTON:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton MBE<\/a><\/small> (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver<\/a> who races in Formula One<\/a> for the Mercedes AMG Petronas<\/a> team. A four-time Formula One World Champion<\/a>, he is often considered the best driver of his generation and widely regarded as one of the greatest Formula One drivers in the history of the sport.[note 1]<\/a><\/sup> He won his first World Championship title with McLaren<\/a> in 2008<\/a>, then moved to Mercedes<\/a> where he won back-to-back titles in 2014<\/a> and 2015<\/a> before winning his fourth title in 2017<\/a>. Statistically the most successful British driver in the history of the sport, Hamilton has more World Championship titles<\/a> (4) and more race victories than any other British driver in Formula One<\/a> (63). He also holds records for the all-time most career points<\/a> (2,680), the most wins at different circuits<\/a> (25), the all-time most pole positions<\/a> (73) and the most grand slams in a season<\/a> (3).<\/strong><\/p>\n

In his first season in Formula One<\/a>, Hamilton set numerous records as he finished runner-up in the 2007<\/a> season toKimi R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen<\/a> by just one point, including those for the most consecutive podium finishes from debut<\/a> (9), the joint most wins in a debut season<\/a> (4) and the most points in a debut season (109). The following season<\/a>, he won his first title in dramatic fashion; on the last corner of the last lap in the last race of the season<\/a>, becoming the then-youngestFormula One World Champion<\/a> in history. After four more years with McLaren<\/a> without finishing higher than fourth in the drivers’ standings, Hamilton signed with Mercedes<\/a> in 2013<\/a>, reuniting with his childhood karting teammate, Nico Rosberg<\/a>. In his first season, he finished 4th once again, the third time in five years.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two successful seasons followed as Hamilton won his second and third titles. Hamilton won 11 races in 2014<\/a>, in a closely fought championship battle with Nico Rosberg<\/a>, decided in the final race of the season<\/a>, where Hamilton secured his second World Championship title by winning the race. The next season<\/a> saw Hamilton seal his third World Championship title with 3 races remaining, in a season where he finished on the podium a record 17 times and matched his hero Ayrton Senna<\/a>‘s three World Championships. After finishing runner-up to Nico Rosberg<\/a> in\u00a02016<\/a>, Hamilton won his fourth title in 2017<\/a>, joining Juan Manuel Fangio<\/a>, Michael Schumacher<\/a>, Alain Prost<\/a> and\u00a0Sebastian Vettel<\/a> as drivers with four or more World Championship titles.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Lewis Hamilton from MERCEDES won the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.\u00a0Thirteen drivers out of twenty were able to pass the Finish lane.\u00a0The 2018 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was held in Baku April 27. Lewis Hamilton admitted he was lucky to claim one of the most fortunate victories of his Formula One career […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1341,1608,2655,2653,2209,2652,2654],"class_list":["post-15372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-1341","tag-1608","tag-2017-wins-63-podiums-120-career-points-2","tag-england","tag-hertfordshire","tag-lewis-hamilton-mbe-lewis-hamilton-2016-malaysia-2-jpg-hamilton-at-the-2016-malaysian-grand-prix-born-lewis-carl-davidson-hamilton1-7-january-1985-age-332-stevenage","tag-united-kingdom-formula-one-world-championship-career-nationality-united-kingdom-british-2018-team-mercedes4-car-number-443-entries-212-212-starts-championships-4-2008","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}