The 2016 European Grand Prix was the inaugural event held on the Baku City Circuit. The hosting of the event was controversial because of Azerbaijan's poor human rights record, with ongoing imprisonment of political and human rights activists and journalists and bloggers who have criticised the regime. Many retirements were expected in the Formula 1 Grand Prix after the carnage of the GP2 Series support races, where over half of the drivers crashed or retired. It therefore came as a surprise when the only retirements, of which there were four, came as a result of mechanical failures. Mercedes's Nico Rosberg dominated the Grand Prix after qualifying on pole position the day before the race while Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Force India's Sergio Pérez finished second and third respectively to join him on the podium. Valtteri Bottas set a new unofficial Formula 1 top speed record in qualifying for the 2016 European Grand Prix when Williams claimed to have data showing him reaching 378 km/h, eclipsing the previous record of 372 km/h set in 2005 by Juan Pablo Montoya for McLaren while testing at Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.
Reception
found that 90% of the rear tyres used in free practice had been cut by the bolts securing kerbs to the ground not being drilled into the ground far enough, while Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg expressed concern over the lack of run-off areas which would be dangerous in the case of an incident such as a high speed puncture or mechanical failure. Valtteri Bottas was forced to miss the whole of Free Practice 3 when a drain cover came loose and caused significant damage to his Williams FW38. Many drivers praised the circuit for the challenge offered by its mixture of long straights, slow technical sections and no margin for error due to the proximity of the walls.
2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
The inaugural Azerbaijan Grand Prix was held at the circuit on 25 June 2017. The race was a much more chaotic and exciting event than the previous year's race, and was widely regarded as the best race of 2017. The race was notable for Sebastian Vettel deliberately ramming into the side of Lewis Hamilton after accusing Hamilton of brake-checking him under the Safety Car. Vettel received a stop-go penalty for his actions, eventually finishing 4th, whilst Hamilton's headrest became loose while he was leading the race, which forced him to pit and eventually finish in 5th. Daniel Ricciardo won the race for Red Bull, with Valtteri Bottas finishing second despite being a lap down and last in the early stages of the race after colliding with Kimi Räikkönen on lap 1, and Lance Stroll taking a surprise podium for Williams despite being passed by Bottas on the run to the finish line.
The 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was held in April 2018, brought forward to avoid clashing with the celebrations for the centenary of the Azerbaijan Republic. The race saw similar amounts of chaos and drama as the previous year's race, the most notable moments being the collision between Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen on Lap 40, putting both out of the race, and Romain Grosjean crashing behind the resultant Safety Car period. Valtteri Bottas had taken the lead from Sebastian Vettel after pitting behind the Safety Car, and Vettel locked up whilst trying to overtake Bottas on the Safety Car restart, dropping him behind Hamilton, Räikkönen and Sergio Pérez into 5th place. Bottas, however, suffered a puncture the lap after the restart and was forced to retire from the race, meaning that Lewis Hamilton eventually took the race victory, ahead of Räikkönen in second and Pérez in 3rd.
