F1 2017: New points standings after Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Red Bull picked up a very nice 25 points, as did its lead driver, Daniel Ricciardo, in Sunday’s F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Ricciardo at one point was in 17th place, well out of the points, but he made his way through the pack and benefited from some issues to other drivers to take the top spot and the race win.

Ricciardo moves up in the Drivers Championship standings, and while he’s still far behind Sebastian Vettel, the leader, and Lewis Hamilton, the runner-up, he’s still in the running. Vettel had a penalty and Hamilton had to take an untimely pit stop with a safety issue, leading to them missing out on the podium.

Valtteri Bottas has been doing great this season, but he was the one responsible for his troubles on Sunday, as he connected with Raikkonen on the first lap. He suffered a puncture to his right front tire and had to bring himself slowly around the track to the pits. Fortunately for him, other issues and solid driving from there allowed him to take the second podium spot alongside Ricciardo and Lance Stroll of Williams, who placed third.

Jolyon Palmer of Renault was the first driver out, coasting into the pits with engine issues within the first 10 laps. Just a couple laps later, Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso had engine troubles of his own and he had to stop on the side of the road, prompting a safety car and a round of pit stops.

Max Verstappen of Red Bull was making a run for third place when he suffered engine troubles and was forced to retire from the race. A pair of yellow flags due to debris ultimately resulted in a restart that saw Esteban Ocon of Force India collide with his teammate, Sergio Perez, ending the latter’s race and ruining the former’s.

Perez had to go into the garage while Ocon suffered a puncture, putting him at the back of the track. Raikkonen also had to go into the garage after his car as he suffered a puncture due to debris, and the puncture resulted in severe damage to the undercarriage of his car.

During all the safety car fracas, Hamilton braked hard and Vettel actually came into contact with him. Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll of Williams ended up in third and fourth by Lap 23, when the red flags were waived so they could get the track cleared up.

Shockingly, Raikkonen and Perez both were able to have significant work done to their cars during the red flag. They managed to get the cars in working order again, and went onto the track to try and unlap themselves. When the race resumed, Perez was in 16th and Raikkonen in 17th.

On the restart, Massa came over the team radio and said he was having engine troubles. Ricciardo took advantage, and passed both Williams drivers to take third place. Stroll retained fourth, with Massa falling far back.

Nico Hulkenberg of Renault, unfortunately, suffered serious damage to his car and had to pull off the track when one of his tires was facing the wrong direction. Massa had to retire his car, and Hulkenberg also retired his. No more retirements happened until Lap 41, when Perez finally retired his car, ending his streak of 37 races finished and preventing him from improving his position of 44 points.

The field was narrowed to 13 cars when Raikkonen retired from the race with only three laps to go. Perez, Raikkonen and Verstappen have all been prolific points scorers this season, but all ended up with zero on the day. Ricciardo may have won the race, but with Verstappen out, Red Bull didn’t make as much headway in the Constructors Championship as they hoped.

Below are the Drivers Championship points standings and below that are the Constructors Championship standings following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.