Nyck de Vries’ shunt with the barriers at the Baku Street Circuit brought out the first safety car of the 2023 Azerbaijan GP. While most of the drivers benefited from Bernd Mayländer being out on track, driving the safety car, the same cannot be said for Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris.
Both Hamilton and Norris had just pitted before the safety car was deployed, which effectively cost them a free stop like the others. Sky Sports analyst and F1 expert Karun Chandhok explained why Hamilton and Norris came out as losers in this scenario, along with the likes of Yuki Tsunoda and Oscar Piastri.
“Everyone who pitted before the safety car has basically lost out,” Chandhok said live on Sky Sports. “Because they’ve spent twice as long doing that stop. Hamilton, Norris, Tsunoda, and Piastri have all lost out there. ”
Safety chaos at Baku adds pressure on Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton started the 2023 Azerbaijan GP from P5 on the grid. When the lights in Baku went out, he expected to get a jump on those ahead of him and target a podium finish. He didn’t get the jump he wanted but was eyeing a potential overcut, by pitting early to put on the hard compound tires.
That stop, however, put him out of the top 10 for the time being, and just when he was about to make his move on Nico Hulkenberg to gain a place, race control deployed the safety car. As a result, all the cars ahead of Hamilton got a free pit stop, and he struggled to make up places.
On the restart, Hamilton was behind his teammate George Russell, but the latter’s poor getaway allowed the seven-time world champion to comfortably breeze past him when the cars went racing again.
McLaren’s plans derailed after pit stop mishap
McLaren’s start to the season was woeful to say the least. However, a chaotic safety car restart in Melbourne followed by multiple retirements allowed them to get a double points finish last time. Their good fortunes continued onto Baku, where both cars were able to get into Q3.
Norris started the race from P7 with Piastri behind him in P10. Realistically, their aim was to hold on to the points, and leave Baku with a strong haul. Unfortunately, them pitting before the safety car, made them lose out on time, and both drivers found themselves out of the top 10 following the restart.
