Azerbaijan GP: Daniel Ricciardo triumphs as Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel clash

Vettel punished for "dangerous driving" after twice hitting Hamilton's Mercedes; Hamilton then loses lead after extra pit stop to fix loose head rest; Ricciardo recovers from 16th for shock victory

By James Galloway

Whilst waiting for the restart under the safety car, Sebastian Vettel hits the back of Lewis Hamilton, then remonstrates with Hamilton

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo claimed an unexpected victory in a chaotic and controversial Azerbaijan GP as Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel's title rivalry finally ignited in on-track clashes.

Valtteri Bottas finished second from a lapped last and Williams teenager Lance Stroll third in a Baku race which provided no end of crashes, incidents and overtakes - and a 'dangerous driving' rebuke for championship leader Vettel.

Hamilton and Vettel had been running first and
second respectively before the Ferrari driver was punished by race stewards for twice hitting the Mercedes while running behind a Safety Car.

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The second clash, when Vettel appeared to take his anger out on Hamilton by driving straight into the Mercedes' front wheel, earned the German a 10-second stop-and-go-penalty.

However, in a frustrating twist as far as Hamilton was concerned, the penalised Vettel still finished one place ahead of Hamilton with fourth to extend his championship lead to 14 points.

Hamilton was still on course for victory before he had to make an unscheduled pit stop on safety grounds when the head rest in his Mercedes worked its way loose. With the Mercedes repairs taking longer than Vettel's penalty, Hamilton re-emerged onto the track just behind the Ferrari.

Whilst leading the Azerbaijan GP, Lewis Hamilton had to make an unscheduled pit stop to replace his headrest after it had come loose.

The Briton followed Vettel in the closing stages as they both worked their way back up the order, but was unable to get close enough to attempt an overtake and finished fifth.
Race winner Ricciardo had started 10th after a crash in qualifying and had dropped as low as 16th after an early pit stop to clear debris from his brake ducts. Red Bull's win is the first non-Mercedes or Ferrari success of 2017.
Esteban Ocon was sixth despite earlier crashing with Force India team-mate Sergio Perez, while Fernando Alonso finally opened McLaren's points account with ninth from 19th on the grid.

Following a second safety car to pick up debris on track, there was absolute carnage in the restart of the Azerbaijan GP.