Lewis Hamilton wins the 2018 Azerbaijan GP

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) scored his first win of the Formula One season in Azerbaijan. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) finished second and Sergio Perez (Force India) secured third place.

Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) started from pole position and controlled the race until the first pit stop. That's when Bottas took over the lead and Vettel dropped to second place. By this time both Mercedes cars were on the faster ultrasoft tyres, while Vettel was on the more durable soft tyres. Then, the two Red Bull cars of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo collided at turn 1. This incident brought out the second safety car of the race, which also gave Ferrari the opportunity to switch to ultrasoft. 

On the restart, Vettel charged, but locked up his brakes and dropped to 4th place. He was soon passed by Perez as well. Just as Bottas looked set for a win, a puncture put him out of contention.

Carlos Sainz (Renault) finished fifth, ahead of Charles Leclerc (Sauber) in sixth place. Fernando Alonso (McLaren) suffered a puncture early in the race, but still managed to finish seventh, ahead of Lance Stroll (Williams). Toro Rosso's Brendan Hartley finished tenth despite starting at the back of the grid. 

Esteban Ocon (Force India) retired after clashing with Raikkonen on the first lap. Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) was running in P5 when he hit the wall and retired, while Romain Grosjean (Haas) crashed out as he lost control of his car behind the safety car.

The fifth round of the 2018 Formula 1 world championship will be held in Spain on May 13, 2018.

World Drivers' Championship standings:

Lewis Hamilton - 70

Sebastian Vettel - 66

Kimi Raikkonen - 48

World Constructors' Championship standings:

Ferrari - 114

Mercedes - 110

Red Bull - 55