SUTTON
Drama denies Max but Lewis misses his chance
to topple Red Bull
The Baku street circuit has provided some dramatic moments in its short history in Formula 1, and last weekend was no exception. But the tyre blowouts that first spat Lance Stroll into the wall and then cost Max Verstappen victory are not what anyone had in mind.
Failures happen of course, but investigations will need to be thorough because cars being pitched into barriers at 200mph is one of the most serious dangers F1 has faced for some time.
Almost as surprising as the Pirelli situation was Lewis Hamilton’s error at the final restart. As Alex Kalinauckas shows in our report on page 16, three drivers could have won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and Hamilton was one of them; this time he didn’t take his chance. Whether the race should really have restarted over just two laps – with all previous gaps erased as no aggregate result was used – is highly debatable, but it did provide action. Hamilton’s drive against the faster Red Bulls had been impressive, but his ‘magic’ button mistake (above) means that instead of moving 14 or 21 points ahead of Verstappen in the drivers’ championship he is still four behind. Neither has been perfect this year, and that Azerbaijan faux pas could prove crucial at the end of the campaign.
Hyundai again missed its chance in the World Rally Championship, too. Turn to p34 for Tom Howard’s account of how Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier extended his points lead against the odds.
Kevin Turner Chief Editor kevin.turner@autosport.com
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COVER IMAGES Motorsport Images/Dunbar; Sutton
PIT & PADDOCK 4 BMW eyes LMDh and Electric GT 6 Singapore GP off for second year running 8 Obituary: Mansour Ojjeh 10 Pourchaire breaks wrist in Baku 13 Opinion: Alex Kalinauckas 14 Opinion: Rodi Basso 15 Feedback: your letters
RACE CENTRE 16 Azerbaijan GP report and analysis 34 WRC: Ogier pounces as Hyundai falters 42 World of Sport: Nurburgring 24 Hours; Formula 2; WTCR; ELMS; NASCAR Cup; MotoGP
CLUB AUTOSPORT 59 Welsh motorsport given green light 60 Poignant parade for Legends racer 62 Ex-Vasser Lanan FF1600 car back out 65 Opinion: the best places to watch racing 66 National reports: Cadwell Park; Brands Hatch; Snetterton; Knockhill; Shelsley Walsh 74 TOCA supports preview
FINISHING STRAIGHT 78 Father’s Day gi s and what’s on 80 From the archive: 1971 Thruxton F2 82 What could have been: Vernay in IndyCar
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