Alonso’s master lesson and Hamilton’s colossal blunder: this was the ‘mini-race’ of two laps of Baku

All the emotion that was lacking in 49 laps of the Azerbaijan GP she was focused on the last two. The decision of Michael Masi, race director, not to cancel the appointment after the Verstappen accident led to a two-round resolution, with stationary start and tires changed for everyone.

Pérez takes the victory of Azerbaijan with a final blowout from Verstappen, a blunder from Hamilton and a heroic 6th from Alonso

This factor was key, because not everyone did it well. The one who showed the most cold blood was Fernando Alonso. The Asturian took that second exit in the 10th position on the unexpected grid and ended up finishing 6th.

As in the old days, the two-time world champion brought out his reflexes and in the first corner he had already gained two positions, three if the track exit of Lewis hamilton. In the first meters they fell Carlos Sainz (who sneaked in) and Daniel Ricciardo, who were joined by Lewis Hamilton for his departure from the track. A few meters later, with great intelligence, Alonso snatched the position from Yuki tsunoda. The Japanese, a rookie and therefore the most dangerous (due to his lack of experience, not due to lack of quality), was the one who cost him the most. With the sixth in his pocket, Alonso temporized to finish between the points and, incidentally, overtake Esteban Ocon in the World Cup standings: 13 points from the Spanish, 12 from the French.

The Verstappen and Stroll accidents that decided the Azerbaijan GP: two blowouts at over 300 km / h

Much worse was Hamilton. The seven-time champion lost a golden opportunity (who knows if the World Cup) at over-braking at turn 1 from the Baku circuit. The terrible highlight of the British, caused by he pressed a button without realizing it (as explained later) and a braking pass without much explanation, made him go from opting to be first to fall to last position.

Antonio Lobato placeholder image couldn’t help the comment: “Chick, the one you messed with!”

Hamilton’s disappointment was obvious, obviously, because he went from being the standout leader before the highlight to back within four points of the lead in Verstappen. The Dutchman could not hide his smile of relief as he looked at the podium, which his teammate led Sergio perez: his great enemy for the championship was not there.

Hamilton, moreover, was noticeably affected after the appointment, not only because of the sporting defeat, but also because he was not able to dedicate a good result to Mansour ojjeh, one of the owners of Mclaren and one of those who bet the most on him in the beginning, who died this Sunday.