Valtteri Bottas moved to the summit of the world championship with his second win of the season in Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Finn is now one point clear of Lewis Hamilton, who finished second, as Mercedes secured a record 100 per cent start to the new campaign.
Here, Press Association Sport looks back at five things we learned from Baku.
1. Bottas wins again... but is he title material?
Yess!! 🏆
Baku win 💪🏼#VB77 #F1 #F1Baku@MercedesAMGF1
📸 @JanErikOlin pic.twitter.com/q8QiRZvTul— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) April 28, 2019
Watford boss Javi Gracia was named last August's Manager of the Month after he oversaw a three-match winning start to the club's Premier League campaign. But did anyone really think the Hornets would challenge for the title? No. Following Bottas' failure to win a single race in a car which last season won both the drivers' and constructors' championships, the Finn has responded well, enjoying a positive start to the new term. He has out-qualified Hamilton at two rounds, and following his victory in Azerbaijan, has now beaten his Mercedes team-mate at two of the opening four races, too. Bravo. But does anyone believe the Finn can outdo Hamilton over the course of 21 rounds? Just as with Watford, the answer is probably, no. Look at Hamilton's conduct on the first lap in Baku. He later admitted to being too courteous with Bottas, but why was he so kind in the first instance? Because Hamilton, who traditionally turns up the wick in the second half of the season, knows it is unlikely his team-mate will stick with him over the next 17 races.
2. More pain for Ferrari on weekend to forget
Once again where we didn't want to be. Great team effort in a hard race, also our guys did a super job. #Seb5 #Charles16 #SF90 #essereFerrari 🔴 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/M2rvuS62hd
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) April 28, 2019
He may not admit it, but Hamilton probably still considers Sebastian Vettel as his main rival for a sixth world crown. And so he might. Lest us not forget the German has won 52 races and four world championships. Yet, Vettel is now without a victory in more than eight months, racing for a Ferrari team which has failed to deliver on its pre-season promise. John Elkann, the New York-born Ferrari chairman, was in Azerbaijan and he would not have liked what he saw. Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari in the barriers in qualifying, and Vettel, without the assistance of a tow provided by his absent team-mate in the shootout for pole, could qualify only third. From looking dominant on Friday, the Scuderia left Baku with third and fifth place finishes. Vettel is now 35 points off the championship summit. Ferrari will return to the venue of their impressive winter running at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya a week on Sunday, and only a win will suffice it they are to resurrect their faltering title challenge.
3. Credit to McLaren for semi-revival
Baku 2018: 29/04/2018
Baku 2019: 28/04/2019@McLarenF1 ended a wait of 20 races by registering a double points finish on Sunday
Almost a year to the day since their last one (364 days) ⌛#AzerbaijanGP 🇦🇿 #F1 pic.twitter.com/zDFlAwuTR9
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 28, 2019
An anonymous McLaren mechanic is said to be familiar to his colleagues for portraying an outwardly grumpy persona, so much was made by those same colleagues of his chirpy mood ahead of Sunday's race. Following the doom and gloom in recent seasons, these are positive times for the British team, Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris crossing the line seventh and eighth respectively to secure McLaren's first double-points finish of the year. It is still more than five seasons since a McLaren driver featured on a podium, but their improvement should certainly be noted and applauded.
4. Kvyat vows to help Ricciardo after reversing blunder
"It's a bit of panic... I had no idea he was behind me"#AzerbaijanGP 🇦🇿 #F1 pic.twitter.com/740miCWjwH
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 28, 2019
Daniel Ricciardo livened up Sunday's non-event when he ran off the road, and then reversed into Daniil Kvyat's Toro Rosso. The Australian was hit with a three-place grid penalty for the Spanish Grand Prix. "I'll buy him a rear-view mirror for the next race," joked Kvyat.
5. Azerbaijan GP fails to reach crescendo
Turn 8 in Baku is fiendishly tight, as Robert Kubica will confirm 💥#AzerbaijanGP 🇦🇿 #F1 pic.twitter.com/2AmAvuBVC3
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 27, 2019
George Russell's high-speed crash with a loose drain cover in practice, followed by big accidents for Leclerc and Robert Kubica in qualifying, suggested the race would be a spell-binding affair. That never materialised. Perhaps the dramas of the weekend meant the drivers were more cautious than they may have been at a track where one error can have devastating consequences.
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