George Russell

George Russell’s remarkable streak of finishing every race in 2022 in𒅌 the top five continued with his third rostrum appearance of the year.

Russell made an early pit stop un𓃲der the Virtual Safety Car which allowed him to jump t💝he midfield traffic, unlike teammate Lewis Hamilton, who was forced to queue and lost significant ground.

With Russell in clear air, he was able to pull clear of the res♓t of the midfield with ease before making a second stop under the other VSC period to ensure he finished third.

Sunday also means Russell has beaten H🍷amilton seven races in a row - equalling Nico Rosberg’s record from Mexico 2015 to Russia 2016.

Could 🍎he make it eight and beat the reಌcord in Canada?

Pierre Gasly

Afℱter a difficult Monaco weekend where he was eliminated in Q1, Pierre Gasly was back to his very best in Baku.

The Frenchman managed to split the two Mercedes cars in qualifying and was on for fourth before AlphaTauri’s decision not to pit him under the s♏econd VSC period.

If he did, a fine drive to fourth was on the♒ ca♑rds but regardless fifth is impressive given AlphaTauri’s lack of form, relative to 2021, this year.

Max Verstappen & Red Bull

It was a timely reminder to everyone who was getting carried away about Sergio Perez that the reigning F1 champion is st൩ill the main man at Red Bull.

While Verstappen continues to struggle to unlock the RB18’s one-lap pace, his race-day per♓formances ar♐e as devastating as ever.

The Dutchman quickly reduced a two-second deficit to Perez once Charles Leclerc stopped under the Virtual S✱afety Car before overtaking his te𓄧ammate, quickly building a five-second lead.

Verstappen did benefit from team intervention - not team orders though, according to boss Christian Horner, but in the context of the race, Red Bull were right to do so given th🍒at the 24-year-old was their best shot at beating Leclerc.

Once Leclerc was out of the race due to his engine failure, it was a comfortable afternoon 𝄹for Red Bull, which secured their third 1-2 of the season. 

Verstappen now has a 21-point lead over Perez in the champio🍷nship, while Red Bull are 80𒀰 points clear of Ferrari.

Sebastian Vettel

The four-time F1 champion churned out another vintage performance in Baku as he made🌠 it back-to-back Q3 appearances.

Vettel converted his top 10 start♕ into Aston Martin’s first t🍸op-six finish of the year.

It wasn’t a completely straightforward race for the German as he was forced to t🥀ak🦋e to the Turn 3 escape road when he misjudged his braking while battling Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.

However, Vettel dꦚeserves credit for his fast reactions and 360-degree spin to get back on track with minimal time loss🌞.

And the losers…

Charles Leclerc & Ferrari

It was the worst day possible for Leclerc and Ferrari as ༒their title hopes🌼 went up in smoke.

Carlos Sainz💟’s retirement on Lap 9 due to a hydraulic issue set off an awful day ꦛfor the Scuderia in Azerbaijan.

Ferrari opted to pit Leclerc u🦩nder the VSC - their only chance of beating the two Red Bulls to the victory.

But, we didn’t get to see how that strategy would have p🍬layed out after Leclerc’s engine blew on Lap 21.

After such great promise, Leclerc and Ferrari’s season is s🥀lowly going down the d🌳rain.

Yuki Tsunoda

Yuki Tsunoda has enjoyed a remarkable leap in performance in 2022 and his performance in Baku was🐽 a mature one.

Tsunoda was running comfortabl🐈y in sixth before an unusual rear wing issue occurred in the closiꦓng laps of the race, forcing him into an unscheduled pit stop.

AlphaTܫauri were forced to apply gaffer tape in an amusing fashion and Tsunoda was told to avoid using DRS.

His race was already over with Tsunoda ultimately finishing down in 1🦄3th.

Lance Stroll

With Vettel finishing inside the top six, where was h👍is Aston Martin teammate, Lan♈ce Stroll?

Stroll endured a miserable qualifying outing in Baku where he qualified twice in two laps, putting him out in Q1 for the third race in successio𓃲n.

The C🧔anadian drove an anonymous race, struggling for outright pace meaniꩵng he was never a contender for points in Azerbaijan.

Vettel is getting the most from the Aston Martin while Stroll appears to h🃏ave gone backwards compared to last year.

Alfa Romeo

It was a missed opportunity for Alfa Romeo in Baku with rookie Guanyu Zhou enjoying his🧸 best we𝄹ekend as an F1 driver. 

Zhou was on course to finish inside the top eight as he was running right🅘 behind Vettel before his latest retirement🐈. 

It’s Zhou’s third DNF in four 🀅races with mechanical grem♐lins impacting his debut season severely. 

On the other hand, Valtteri Bottas ♋had a weekend to forge൩t.

The ♔2019 Azerbaijan GP winner’s pace was nowhere in qualifying and in the race - in complete contrast to his form this year.

Bottas eluded to there being an issue with his car🍌 but given his display for Mercedes🍰 in the 2020 race, perhaps the Finn simply lacked confidence around Baku’s tight streets.

Mick Schumacher 

The only positive for Mi𝄹ck Schumacher in Baku is that he avoided another Monaco-like shunt.

Haas team b🦂oss Guenther Steiner warned after Monaco that the team simply couldn’t afford any more major crashes due to the cost🌟 cap.

Schu𝓀macher qualified 1.1s behind teammate Kevin Magnussen and didn’t really feature in Sunday’s grand prix, only running ahead of Nicholas Latifi, who got hit wit👍h two penalties.