- Nico Rosberg took his fifth victory of the season in the inaugural Grand Prix in Baku, and he did it in Grand Slam style, having led every lap from pole position and captured fastest lap.
- Rosberg’s second career Grand Slam comes just four races after he’d scored his first (in Russia), and moves him level with team mate Lewis Hamilton, as well as Mika Hakkinen, Jack Brabham and Juan Manuel Fangio, on the all-time list.
- Rosberg is the first winner of a race designated the Grand Prix of Europe since Fernando Alonso triumphed for Ferrari in Valencia in 2012. It was also Mercedes’ first win in a race with that title.
Nico Rosberg has now scored as many Grand Slams as team mate Lewis Hamilton. © Sutton Images
- Hamilton may have missed the podium, but the Briton did at least clock the fastest recorded speed in the race - 364.4 km/h (226.4 mph) at the finish line, which is also the fastest recorded speed seen this season. Not bad for a street track…
- For the second race in a row, the third time this season and the 19th time in his career, Sebastian Vettel finished a Grand Prix in second place. It was the German’s 84th podium overall, moving him past team mate Kimi Raikkonen for fifth in the all-time standings. Only Michael Schumacher (155), Alain Prost (106), Fernando Alonso (97) and Lewis Hamilton (92) have stood on an F1 rostrum more times than Vettel.
- Sergio Perez meanwhile picked up his second podium finish in three races, equalling his season best finish in Monaco with another third place. Before this season, Force India had only scored three podiums in total…
- Perez now has seven career podium finishes - exactly the same number that Mexican racing icon Pedro Rodriguez achieved in his F1 career.
Sergio Perez is now tied with Pedro Rodriguez for the most podiums by a Mexican driver with seven. © Sutton Images
- Having failed to score in the first three races, Perez has also now picked up points in five successive Grands Prix - the longest such streak on the grid.
- The top ten finishers came from just five teams - Mercedes, Ferrari, Force India, Williams and Red Bull. That’s the second time that’s happened this season, the first coming in China.
- With both Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz going out, Toro Rosso recorded their first double retirement since the 2015 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
- Finally, after all the predictions of chaos and crashes, Sunday’s race in Baku was just the second this season (after Bahrain) to pass without either a Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car period…
