The 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was only the second edition of the Baku street race on the F1 calendar, yet it delivered the kind of chaos that seasoned fans still talk about nearly a decade later.
Three safety car periods, a red flag, seven retirements and a Force India team-mate collision all featured. But perhaps none of the incidents were as dramatic as what happened between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton behind the safety car.
Heading into round eight of the season, Vettel held a 12-point championship lead over Hamilton. Ferrari looked strong, the title fight was finely balanced, and both men knew the stakes.
During the second safety car period of the grand prix, Hamilton was leading and controlling the pace ahead of the restart, as the lead car is permitted to do.
Vettel, running directly behind, misjudged the situation and drove into the back of Hamilton’s Mercedes exiting Turn 15.
Convinced he had been brake-tested, the German then pulled alongside, gesticulated angrily, and deliberately steered his Ferrari into the side of Hamilton’s car.
The stewards investigated immediately and the telemetry confirmed Hamilton had not braked unusually.
Vettel was found wholly at fault and handed a 10-second stop-go penalty, the harshest available in-race punishment, along with three penalty points on his licence.
Hamilton was furious. “Driving alongside and deliberately driving into a driver … is a disgrace. He disgraced himself today,” he said afterwards.
Yet in a cruel twist, Hamilton’s own race unravelled when a loose headrest forced an unscheduled pit stop while he was leading. Vettel, despite his penalty, finished fourth, ahead of Hamilton in fifth.
Daniel Ricciardo capitalised on the carnage to win for Red Bull, while a teenage Lance Stroll grabbed his maiden podium for Williams.
Vettel left Baku having extended his championship lead, but his challenge would not hold up, with Hamilton eventually ending the year as champion.