After an outrageously entertaining Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Formula One fans revelled in another podium shake-up consisting of some very deserving drivers.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez came away with the win after an eventful day and said it was a ‘confidence boosting’ outing after spending the last few weekends in the shadows of his Dutch teammate Max Verstappen.
Joining Perez on the podium was Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, marking his first podium for Aston Martin – and the team’s first podium in F1.
Filling the final step on the podium on Sunday was AlphaTauri’s of Pierre Gasly, after battling his way to the chequered flag wheel-to-wheel with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
Two of our usual podium sitters were absent on Sunday when disaster struck 23-year-old Verstappen while leading the final laps on Sunday.
He lost control of his RB16B on the main straight due to a puncture to his rear right wheel – the same incident that had previously ended Lance Stroll’s day.
The Dutch driver crashed into the barriers and brought about a red flag – marking the end of his race.
Then the second podium regular who missed out was Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
He was in third from the red flag restart but ultimately finished outside the points in P15 after he accidentally switched the balance with his brakes heading into Turn One and had to continue into the run-off area.
We head into round 7 in two weeks’ time for the French Grand Prix, but let’s see what Baku’s podium sitters had to say after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix:
Perez: “I’m so happy for today.
“The race, normally Baku is pretty crazy. First of all, I have to say I’m very sorry for Max, because he did a tremendous race and deserved to win, and it would have been incredible to get the one-two for the team.
“But in the end, it is a fantastic day for us.
“We were close to retiring the car but luckily we managed to finish the race. It was quite difficult all the way to the end.”
Vettel: “We had good pace; that was key.
“I had a good start, made some positions straight away, looked after my tyres as soon as everybody went to the pits. I had really good pace to overcut I think Yuki at least and then obviously the re-start worked brilliantly for me and got another two positions there.
“Yeah, we obviously had fresher tyres, which I guess helped, warming up the tyres later on. Yeah, a great day. I’m over the moon. For the team it’s great, obviously, a podium.
“We didn’t expect that when we came here. Already on Friday, even though we were nowhere, it felt good.
“I was quite relaxed. Yesterday we didn’t quite make it but today, even sweeter.”
Gasly: “Incredible.
“Honestly, I don’t really know what to say.
“It was such an insane race and a super intense last two laps. The car has been incredible all weekend and we showed every session we were there.
“Qualifying was mega. I didn’t know if we could keep up that position or fight for even a podium and in the end, we did it.
“You know, I finished already once first, once second and I missed that third place so it feels incredible to get that podium.”
