Background image sourced from RaceFans, a picture of a Baku street mural
AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX RESULTSWell now, how to describe that race...
Crazy would be one word, but an overused one this season. Heartbreaking certainly, for some - including those of us who didn't think Hamilton had a shot at winning. Incident filled? Chaotic?
We'll go with 'low scoring'. Due to the overwhelming sentiment after practice that Mercedes was on the back foot this time, very few people put one of the silver cars in first. For much of the race that looked like the right call, with Vettel leading from the lights all the way to his pit stop, at which point he looked certain to rejoin in the lead with at least some advantage over the leading Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas. Things looked set for a Ferrari win, and at least a fair haul of points for most.
UNTIL!Red Bull Racing struck again, shattering the expected pecking order (albeit in a very different way from last time out in China). The safety car brought about by the 'racing incident' between the two Bulls allowed Bottas to pick up a free pit stop, and when he and Vettel both caught up to the Mercedes being desperately driven by Bernd Mayländer, it was Bottas who was well and truly ahead. At this point we were looking set for a lot of 3-point scores: nobody had Bottas to win, but Vettel was pretty popular for second.
Then it was all turned on its head for the final time: Vettel dived Bottas at turn one, locking up and letting Hamilton and Kimi through. At this point things had gone from bad to worse for most people, with almost nobody set to score on a Mercedes 1-2 in the wrong direction. That little problem was taken care of however when Bottas' tyre exploded, ending his hopes of a well-deserved victory and instead handing the trophy to a somewhat subdued Hamilton who had done virtually nothing to earn it. A bitter individual might say that his victory is an apt allegory for those who profited from it, but since I'm not a bitter person I'll just leave off here...
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First Place - 5 pointsMod Onyx, Bentrovato, Mod Blue, Herb
Second Place - 3 pointsRemmirath
The Rest - 0 pointsEverybody else
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Individual Standings - Round Four
Not very many people scored, but those that did moved up accordingly. Most significantly, Herb takes the lead of the championship with his 5 points.
Team Standings - Round Four
In the team standings, it's very much an All Hail The Mods moment, because the second mod team of Crisis in Management wins the round! This unexpected result catapults them to third in the team standings, well ahead of their fellow mod team.
CHAMPIONSHIP PICTUREWith Herb in the lead and Jalopy Racing retaining their place atop the standings, things are looking good for the defending champs. However, it bears noting that all these rounds have so far been very chaotic and low-scoring - will a different picture begin to emerge in the European season?
We'll see in Spain!
![:]](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif "Grin")
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