Daniel Ricciardo has won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after a hectic race saw title contenders Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton make unscheduled trips to the pits during the race, taking away any chance of a victory. 

Second place was Valtteri Bottas who was involved in a first lap incident with Kimi Raikkonen. The Mercedes driver was able to un-lap himself after a red flag period, caused by a smattering of debris around the track.

Lance Stroll drove a solid race and claimed his first ever podium finish coming across the line in third place. The podium comes two weeks after he claimed his first ever points position in Montreal. He takes Williams' first podium since the Canadian Grand Prix in 2016.

Vettel and Hamilton both finished fourth and fifth respectively. Hamilton was forced to pit from the lead as his headrest came loose, which dropped down way down the order. Vettel received a ten-second stop and go penalty after making contact with Hamilton under a safety car period.

Esteban Ocon recovered from an early crash with teammate Sergio Perez to cross the line in sixth place. His teammate Sergio Perez failed to finish, retiring with a broken seat near the end of the race.

Kevin Magnussen was running in P3 with 14 laps to go but couldn't keep the faster cars behind him, and finished in P7 which is still a respectable points haul and impressive drive from the Dane.

Carlos Sainz was eighth while McLaren-Honda finally claimed its first points as Fernando Alonso crossed the line in ninth. Rounding out the top 10 was Pascal Wehrlein who takes his second points score of the season.

Turn 1 was clean for the front runners as Hamilton and Bottas got off the line well. Further back, there was a spin for Carlos Sainz as he felt teammate Daniil Kvyat was rejoining the track in a dangerous fashion after the Russian locked up and went off the track.

At turn 2, there was yet another incident between Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen. Raikkonen attempted to overtake his compatriot around the outside but as Bottas clouted the kerb, he speared into the side of Raikkonen. Bottas had a front right puncture and was forced to pit.

The Sauber's and McLaren's were in a hot fight as on lap 5, Ricciardo peeled into the pits to change tyres. His surge through the field started on the next lap as he made his way by the Sauber of Pascal Wehrlein. The first retirement of the day came in the form of Jolyon Palmer, and the Brit ended the weekend on a miserable note. He pulled into the pitlane with an engine issue. 

On lap 11, Daniil Kvyat was seen stopped at the exit of 13, clambering out of his car. Max Verstappen started attacking Sergio Perez who was running in third position. However, the pace didn't last long as yet another engine problem forced Verstappen to retire. 

The safety car came out on the next lap while the Toro Rosso of Kvyat was recovered. All the cars in the field took this opportunity to pit, and the order stayed much the same. 

Lap 17 saw the safety car peel into the pits, but it was only moments later when it was redeployed due to debris on the track.This period lasted three laps and on lap 20, the green flag was waved. It was then noticed that Vettel and Hamilton made contact twice behind the safety car, with Vettel first hitting the back of the Brit's car as they prepared for a restart.

He then appeared to get alongside Hamilton and hit him sideways on, which resulted in the German receiving a ten-second penalty for unsportsmanlike driving. Both drivers had contrasting views on what happened post race.

At the safety car restart, there was major damage at turn 2 once again as this time, the two Force India's of Ocon and Perez hit each other, with both cars suffering damage. For the third time in 9 laps, the safety car was deployed until race control deemed that a red flag situation was needed.

After about 30 minutes of sitting in the pits while the track was cleared of debris, the safety car led the cars back out. On the restart, Ricciardo leapt into third position, while Massa had a damper problem, causing him to limp back to the pits after he was on course for a podium finish at the very least.

Lap 25 saw an uncharacteristic mistake from Nico Hulkenberg, as he hit the inside wall at turn 7, snapping his suspension and ending Renault's day in Azerbaijan. Lewis Hamilton then began to suffer problems with his headrest, as it was lifting out of its sitting area.

The loose headrest forced Hamilton into a pitstop to replace it on lap 31, while only laps later, Vettel pitted to serve his stop and go penalty. Vettel re-emerged right in front of Hamilton, but they were now down in the lower points-paying positions after running in P1 and P2.

Both men made their way past Alonso, Magnussen and Ocon, while Valtteri Bottas also made ground in this time. He was running in P3 ahead of Vettel and Hamilton and was lapping faster than anyone on track, catching Stroll in P2 by a second a lap. 

Daniel Ricciardo kept his cool at the front to cross the line and win the fifth race of his career. On the run to the line, Bottas got by Stroll, finishing less than a tenth of a second ahead of the Canadian who climbed onto the podium step in just his eighth Formula 1 race.

Fergal Walsh