Max Verstappen remains four points clear of Lewis Hamilton at the top 💞of th🗹e Formula 1 drivers’ championship. 

A t🌼yre failure ﷽on Lap 47 for Verstappen cost him the win in Baku and a potential chance to extend his lead to 15 points.

On a weekend where Mercedes stru𒆙ggled for pace, Hamilton should have taken the win in the circumstances, having made a better start than Perez after the red flag but a misjudgement with a switch on his steering wheel moved the brake balance complet🌊ely forward, causing him to lock-up and take to the escape road.

Here are 10 things we learn💙ed from the 2021 Azerbaijan Gra🌠nd Prix...

1. Hamilton is feeling the pressure.

On a day 𒐪where his main title rival hit trouble, many watching in Baku expected Hamilton to fully capitalise🐓 and reclaim the lead of the drivers’ championship when the FIA decided to resume the race with a standing start with three laps to go

The seven-time world champion made the perfect start to get past 𝔍Perez into Turn 1 but then remarkably locked up and 🍰ran wide in the run-off, dropping to the back of the field.

Had Hamilton gone on to take the victory, it 🎐would have been a decisive blow in the race for t🃏he title given Mercedes had the second-fastest car in Baku. 

With France, Austria and Britain coming up - all tracks that are likely to favour Mercedes 🌱on paper - Hamilton could have taken a substantial lead in the championship.

It was another rare mistake from Hamilton, as we saw in Imola where he had a trip through the gravel trap but was bailed out by a timely Safety Car thanks to Geo𓄧rge Russell and Valtteri Bottas’ collision.

When was the last time we’ve seen Hamilton make two high-profile♐ mistakes in the same seওason? 

2. Perez showing why he’s the perfect #2 for Red Bull

Perez continued his upward t🐬rajectory with a fine performance to claim his second career victory🎶 in F1.

Even without Verstappen’s misfortune, Perez performed magni🎶ficently to go from seventh to second with comfortable ease.

Who kꦺnows, without his long pit stop he๊ might have been able to have overcut Verstappen for the lead of the race.

Perez res💖isted immense pressure from Hamilton behind for much of the race and picked up the pieces when it went all wrong for his teammate.

The only concern for Perez is h𝓀is qualifying performances.

While Valtteri Bottas struggled in Baku, he often is on it when it comes to qualifying, and as we saw in Barcelona and Portimao with Perez, a poor qualifying performance can leave you deꦗtached from the leading pack.

3. The Mercedes ‘Diva’ has returned

Throughout 2017, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff labelled the W08 a "diva" for its varying level of performance and difficulties in getting the car setup but also the tyres ဣinto the right operating window. 

The W12 appears to have a similar issue as Mercede💦s had no pace whatsoever throughout Friday practice.

It was a role reversal to Monaco where Bottas had the pace ꧋ไto challenge for pole, while Hamilton languished down the order.

In Baku, Hamilton w♛as right up there while the Finn never looked like he had the speed to challenge where he usually would.

The smooth asphalt and lack of high-speed corners meant getting heat into the tyres proved tܫricky, although it’s unlikely this issue will carry into France, Austria or Silverstone. 

The Red Bull RB16B looks like a more complete package, while Mercedes’ ওW12 - is very fast, but tricky to get ꦦinto the window.

4. Leclerc is F1’s best qualifier

Yes, he did be♒nefit from a slipstream but the young Monegasque continues to extract the most from the Ferrari over one lap.

Unlike in Monaco, Leclerc was able to start 🅷the race from pole position but Ferrari’s poor management of the rear tyres was crucial as he dropped behind Pierre Gasly and Sebastian Vettel.

There’s no doubt ꦦLeclerc has been F1’s best qualifier in 2021 with the Ferrari driver boasting an average of 3.67 in terms of qualifying - only Verstappen (2.33) and Hamilton (2.50) have better.

5. Never underestimate a champion

Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso sho🎃wed their 🔴class on race day in Baku.

Both drivers 🍷have struggled to get to grips wi♛th life at their new teams but Azerbaijan was a timely reminder that you should never underestimate a multiple-time F1 champion.

Vettel went from 11th to second after an impressive first stint on the softs allowed hiꦕm to overcut Yuki Tsunoda, before overtaking Gasly and Leclerc on track🌊.

Vettel moved up to second following the misfortune of Verstappen and Hamilto🌠n’s mistake on the restart to finish second. 

Alpine 🌠didn’t have the race pace to maintain a top ten finishing position but we saw the best of Alonso off the start yet again.

The Spaniard moved up to sixth from 10th after🌄 the red flag stoppage, with a ballsy overtake on Tsunoda around the outside of Turn 5.

A reminder to everyone - myself included - ♔that Vettel and Alonso still have what it takes to compete at the highest level.

6. Yuki’s move to Italy is paying off

After crashing in final practice for the Monaco Gr✅and Prix, Red Bull decided to move Tsunoda from Milton💯 Keynes to Faenza in Italy, where AlphaTauri is based.

It seems🤡 like his move is already paying off as he enjoyed his strongest weekend as an F1 driver so far.

The Japane💝se rookie pr💯ogressed into Q3 for the first time and finished inside the top seven.

A positive step forward. 

7. Aggressive Mazepin is slowly improving

Nikita Mazepin continued hi🧜s notable improvement from Monaco as he was narrowly out-qualified by Haas teammate Mick Schumacher by less than a tenth of a second.

The race proved to be less fruitful as he ran over 50 seconds behind his teammate when he had an off at𓆏 T🎉urn 4.

Mazepin got past Schumacher at the r♉estart into Turn 4 but lost out on the run to the line as the German nickeওd 13th. 

No doubt that Mazepin’s defence was 🍬over the line, he’s enjoyed a steady♑ improvement since his torrid first weekend in Bahrain.

8. Questions for Pirelli…

Pirelli has been forced to conduct a full investigation to determine what caused the tyre blowouts that ended Stroll and Vers🦩tappen’s race.

Pirelli has revealed details🀅 of its early findings, suggesting it’s likely to be debris given that they found cuts in Ha𓂃milton’s C3 tyre set.

Regardless, it’s not the first time we’ve had similar blowouts over the years si🅠nce Pirelli became F1’s sole tyre supplier in 2011.

These types of incidents shouldn’t be happening and both drivers were fortunate to have got away unscatched given how both were travell꧅ing at the time.

Let’s wait for the outcome of Pirelli’s inve𒀰stigation.

9. …And the FIA

Lecle🥀🐠rc vented his frustration at the FIA about why it took so long to deploy the Safety Car after Max Verstappen’s crash.

“That’s a joke,” he said twice over team radio, before adding: “Put the f--king ♋Safety Car out straight away, why are they waiting?”

The Ferrari driver had a point given that the majority of the field🍌 passed Verstappen and his stricken Red Bull without there being a Safety Car or VSC. 

Something to look at for t꧟he FIA moving forward into France.

10. Is Baku F1’s best street circuit?

Unlike Monaco, Baku threw 🧜up another dramati🔴c thriller.

Safety Cars, red flags, great ove🍰rtakes - Baku is everything you want from a street circuit.

The combination o🦹f long straights and the tight, twisty ‘Old Town’ section mean teams have to compromise their setup, rather than 🎐run completely low or high downforce. 

Baku remains one of the most challenging circuits on the F1 calendar and given that every year it throws up a good race💦, it certainly warrants a 🍃spot on the calendar for the foreseeable future.