Lady luck smiled on Lewis Hamilton in Baku as the Mercedes star won an incident-packed Azerbaijan Grand Prix to take the lead in the Formula One drivers’ championship.
Sports betting pundits didn’t expect Hamilton to win. After all, the Brit hasn’t had the pace he wanted all weekend and never looked like a threat despite starting second on the grid.
However, a late drama that featured a crash, an ill-timed lunge and a puncture turned the betting odds upside down and brought chaos to betting websites.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel led from pole and built a three-second lead early on despite several crashes in the first lap. Hamilton, on the other hand, dropped to third on Lap 22 after locking his wheels.
The match looked like a two-horse race between Vettel and Valtteri Bottas, who surpassed Hamilton after starting third. Nonetheless, with 11 laps to go, madness unfolded after the Red Bull drivers—Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen—crashed into each other and prompted a safety car.
Bottas took advantage of the safety car, went to the pits and came out ahead of Vettel. The German driver tried to fight back after the restart, but an aggressive lunge caused him to run wide, allowing Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen to pass him.
The twist, however, didn’t stop there. With two laps remaining, Bottas appeared on his way to victory until a piece of debris punctured his right rear tyre and ended his run. It gave Hamilton the opening to take the win and the lead for the first time this season.
“It was mixed emotions,” Hamilton said after the win. “Grateful for the opportunity to win but on the other side I did not drive the way I feel like I normally drive, so that hurts a little bit in my heart.”
Ferrari’s Raikkonen claimed second despite dropping all the way down to 14th after an early collision, while Sergio Perez fended off Vettel to give Force India their first podium finish since 2016.
The result allowed Hamilton to move four points ahead of Vettel in the driver standings. However, Ferrari’s 2-4 finish pushed them back to the top of the best constructor race.
Next up is the Spanish Grand Prix at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya where Hamilton won last year.
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