The Driver of the Day

Sergio Perez pulled himself up from P7 to P3 after qualifying second but taking a five penalty due to his FP3 crash that forced a gearbox change. He now has notched up twice the number of podiums compared to McLaren, since the year McLaren sacked him. Without the gearbox penalty, Perez would have challenged for P2 as well.

The Boring Part

Baku looked like an intriguing track in an exotic location but ended up as another bland, soulless Tilke design. And the centrepiece highlight – the 1.2-mile straight, was much too long and prevented any significant dicing. Look at this season’s Spain and Canada rounds; balanced action, significant passes and wheel-to-wheel battles. That’s the racing each Grand Prix track should produce if the sport wants to attract more fans.