The Azerbaijan Grand Prix Stats Rundown

Calling the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix an exciting race would be an understatement. The race saw five different race leaders, two massive crashes and the championship rivals failed to score points. With so many factors and with Mercedes finishing twelfth and fifteenth, it was bound to generate its fair share of records, stats and facts.

Here are all the numbers from the 2021 Azerbaijan GP –

GENERAL –

• In the five races held at the Baku City Circuit so far, there has never been a repeat pole-sitter or race winner or fastest lap-sitter.
• Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel are the most successful drivers at Baku with three podiums apiece. Max Verstappen has nil.
• Perez and Vettel now have podiums with four different Constructors in F1. The last driver to do so was Nick Heidfeld when he finished third at the 2011 Malaysian GP for the Renault team.
• Neither of the top-3 grid starters stood on the podium at Baku, a feat that last occurred at the 2020 Sakhir GP – another race won by Sergio Perez.

 

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RED BULL –

• Sergio Perez equalled Pedro Rodriguez’s tally for most race wins by a Mexican driver.
• Perez’s first F1 race win came 190 races after his debut, a record of its own. The next one took just seven races.
• The Mexican became the second driver after Rubens Barrichello to take podiums with Ferrari, Mercedes, and Honda-powered cars.
• Perez is the only driver to take victories with two different teams in the hybrid era.
• The last time a Red Bull car not driven by Max Verstappen went on to win the race was in 2018 at Monaco (Daniel Ricciardo).
• Max Verstappen set the fastest lap of the race but wasn’t awarded the extra point as he retired from the race. It was just the third instance since the rule was introduced in 2019, where the fastest lap-sitter wasn’t given the additional point due to a DNF/failure to finish in the top-10.

 

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• Max Verstappen has led 251 laps this season. Next on the list is Lewis Hamilton with 84 laps in the lead.
• After Hungary-Belgium 2014, this is just the second time Red Bull have taken back-to-back wins in the hybrid era.
• The podium at Azerbaijan had three drivers affiliated with Red Bull either currently or previously. Sergio Perez signed with the team for this season while Vettel and Gasly are former Red Bull drivers.
• This is just the third time both Red Bull-backed teams have shared the podium together – Germany 2019, Brazil 2019, Azerbaijan 2021.
• Honda’s registered their first podium in Azerbaijan.

ASTON MARTIN –

• Sebastian Vettel led a race for the first time since Brazil 2019.
• He maintained his 100% record of finishing in the top-4 in every Azerbaijan race.
• The German’s brilliant drive brought Aston Martin’s first-ever F1 podium. This was also the first time they’ve ever led a race.

ALPHATAURI –

• Pierre Gasly has stood once on every step of the podium (Italy 2020 – 1st, Brazil 2019 – 2nd, Azerbaijan 2021 – 3rd).
• Yuki Tsunoda scored points after a gap of four races.
• AlphaTauri took their first double-points finish since the 2020 Russian GP.

FERRARI –

• Charles Leclerc has finished in the top-6 in every race he’s started this year.
• Ferrari led a race for the first time since Brazil 2019.

McLAREN –

• Lando Norris is the only driver to score points in every race this year.
• Daniel Ricciardo took his first points at Baku since his win here in 2017.

ALPINE –

• This was Fernando Alonso’s best race result since the 2018 Australian GP where he finished P5.

MERCEDES –

• P15 is Lewis Hamilton’s worst race-finish since the 2009 German GP. Just like Sunday, that race was also won by a Red Bull driver and Sebastian Vettel came in second.
• Lewis Hamilton’s 54-race points scoring streak came to a sad end. The next driver on the list is Kimi Raikkonen with points in 27 consecutive races.
• This was the first time Valtteri Bottas has gone two races without scoring points for Mercedes.
• Red Bull lead the Constructors’ standings by 26 points over Mercedes. Mercedes have never had a points deficit this huge in a championship-winning year.
• This is the first time both Mercedes cars have finished outside the top-10 since the 2012 USA GP.
• Mercedes’ customer teams love Azerbaijan. They’ve stepped on the podium in four of the five races held here (Force India in 2016 and 2018, Williams in 2017, Aston Martin in 2021).
• For the second race in a row, a Mercedes customer team has beaten the works team.
• With both Silver Arrows finishing outside the top-10, it ended their 100% podium rate at Baku.

ALFA ROMEO –

• Kimi Raikkonen scored his first points since the 2020 Emilia Romagna GP.
• The Finn becomes the second driver in F1 history (after Michael Schumacher) to have a 20-year interval between their first and last F1 points.

 

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