Max Verstappen🧔 remains four points clear of Lewis Hamilton at the top of the Formula 1 drivers’ 𒅌championship. 

A tyre failure on Lap 47 for Verstappen cost him the win in Baku and a potential chance to extend his lead to 15 points▨.

On a weekend whe♊re Mercedes struggled for pace, Hamilton should have taken the win in the circumstances, having made a better start than Perez after the red flag but a misjudgement with a switch on his steering wheel moved the brake balance completely forward, causing him to lock-up and take to the escape road.

Here are 10 things we lea🌞rned from the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix...

1. Hamilton is feeling the pressure.

On a day where his main title rival hit trouble, many watching in Baku expected Hamilton🌠 to fully capitalise and reclaim the lead of the drivers’ championship when the FIA decided to resume the race with a standing start with three laps to go

The ♛seven-time world champion made the perfect start to get past Perez into Turn 1 but then remarkably locked up and ran wide in the run-off, dropping to✤ the back of the field.

Had Hamilton gone on to take the victory, it would have been a decisive blow in the rꦗace for the title given Mercedes had the second-fastest car in Baku. 

With France, Austria and Britain coming up - all tracks that are likely to favou🅠r Mercedes on paper - Hamilton could have taken a substantial lead in the championship.

It was another rare mistake from Hamilton, as we saw in Imola where he had a trip through the grav🌠el trap but was bailed out by a timely Safety Car thanks to George Russell and Valtteri Bottas’ collision🎃.

When was the last ti♑me we’ve seen Hamilton make two high-profile mistakes in th꧂e same season? 

2. Perez showing why he’s the perfect #2 for Red Bull

Perez continued his upward trajectory with a fine performance to claim his second carꦯeer victory in F1.

Even wit൲hout Verstappen’s misfortune, Perez performed magnificently to go from seventh to second with comfortable ease.

Who knows, without his long pit stop he might have been able to have overcut Verstappen for the lead🎶 of the race.

Perez resisted immense pressure frওom Hamilton behind for much of the race and picked up the pieces when it went all wrong for his teamm♎ate.

The only concern for Perez is h♔is qualifying performances.

While Valtteri Bottas struggled in Baꦫku, he often is on it when it comes to qualifying, and as we saw in Barcelona and Portimao with Perez, a poor qualifying performance can leave you detached from the leading pack.

3. The Mercedes ‘Diva’ has returned

Throughout 2017, Mercไedes boss Toto Wolff labelled the W08 a "diva" for i𒀰ts varying level of performance and difficulties in getting the car setup but also the tyres into the right operating window. 

The W12 appears to have a similar issue as Mercedes had no pace whatsoever🧸 throughout Frid♊ay practice.

It was a role reversal to Monaco wher𝓀e Bottas had the pace to challenge for pole, while Hamilton languished dowꦰn the order.

In Baku, Hamilton was right up there while the Finn never looked lik♍e he had the speed to challenge where he usuallꦫy would.

The smooth asphalt and lack of hig▨h-speed corners meant getting heat into the 🌊tyres proved tricky, although it’s unlikely this issue will carry into France, Austria or Silverstone. 

The Red Bull RB16B looks like a more complete package, while 💧Mercedes’ W12 - is very fast, but tricky to𒆙 get into the window.

4. Leclerc is F1’s best qualifier

Yes, he did benefit from a slipstream but the young Monegasque continues to extract the most from the Ferra🉐ri over one lap.

Unlike in Monaco, Leclerc was able to start the race from pole position but Ferrari’s poor management of the rear tyres was🐼 crucial 🉐as he dropped behind Pierre Gasly and Sebastian Vettel.

There’s ﷽no doubt Leclerc has been F1’s best qu♔alifier in 2021 with the Ferrari driver boasting an average of 3.67 in terms of qualifying - only Verstappen (2.33) and Hamilton (2.50) have better.

5. Never underestimate a champion

Sebastian 💛Vettel and Fernando Alonso showed tꦦheir class on race day in Baku.

Both drivers have struggled to get to grips with life at their new teams but Azerbaijan was a timely reminder that you shou💖ld never unde𒀰restimate a multiple-time F1 champion.

Vettel went fr꧒om 11th to second after an impress🃏ive first stint on the softs allowed him to overcut Yuki Tsunoda, before overtaking Gasly and Leclerc on track.

Vettel moved up to second following the misfortune of Verstappen and🔯 Hamilton’s♛ mistake on the restart to finish second. 

Alpine di🌺dn’t have the race pace to maintain a top ten finishing position but we saw the best of Alonso off the start yet again.

The Spaniard moved up to sixth from ♒10th after the red flag stoppage, with a ballsy overtake on Tsunoda around the outside of Turn 5.

A reminder to everyone - myself included - that Vettel and Alons𒆙o still have what it takes to compete at the highest level.

6. Yuki’s move to Italy is paying off

After crashing in final practice for the Monaco Grand Prix, Red Bull decided to m🦹ove Tsunoda from Milton Keynes to Faenza in Italy, where AlphaTauri is based.

It seems 🐎like his move is already ꧅paying off as he enjoyed his strongest weekend as an F1 driver so far.

The Japanese rookie progressed into Q3 for the first time a♔nd ꧒finished inside the top seven.

A positive step forward. 

7. Aggressive Mazepin is slowly improving

Nikita Mazepin continued his notable improvement🍌 from Monaco as he was narrowly out-qualified by Haas teammate Mick Schumac🎉her by less than a tenth of a second.

The race proved to be less fruitful as he ran over 50 seconds behind his🍨 teammate when he had an off at Turn 4.

Mazepin got past Schumacher at the restart into Turn 4 but lost out on the run to the line as the German🔴 nicked 13th. 

No doubt that Mazepin’s defence was over the line, he’s enjoyed a steady impr☂ovement since his torrid first weekend in Bahrain.

8. Questions for Pirelli…

Pirelli has 🐭been forced to conduct a full investigation to determine what caused the tyre blowout🔯s that ended Stroll and Verstappen’s race.

Pire🔯lli has revealed details of i꧋ts early findings, suggesting it’s likely to be debris given that they found cuts in Hamilton’s C3 tyre set.

Regardless, it’s not the first time we’ve had similar blowouts over the years since Pirelli became F1’s sole tyre ꦯsupplier in 2011.

These types of incidents shoulཧdn’t be happening and both drivers were fortunate to have got away unscatched given how both were travelling at t🅠he time.

Let’s wait for the outc🅘ome of Pirelli’s inv♔estigation.

9. …And the FIA

Leclerc vented his frustration at the FIA💞 about why it took so long to deploy the Safety Car after Max Verstappen’s crash.

“That’s a joke,” he said twice over team radio, before adding: “Put the f--king Safety Car out straight away, why are ꧙they waiting?”

The Fer🦂rari driver had a point given that the majority of the fi꧒eld passed Verstappen and his stricken Red Bull without there being a Safety Car or VSC. 

Something to look at for the FIA moving forward into Franc🤪e.

10. Is Baku F1’s best street circuit?

Uꦚnlike Monaco, Baku threw up another dramatic thriller.

Safety Cars,ꦬ red flags, great overtakes - Baku is everything you want from a street circuit.

Theꦐ combination of long straights and the tight, twisty ‘Old Town’ section mean teams have to compromise their setup, rather than run completely low or high downforce. 

Baku remains one of the most challenging circuits on the F1 calendar and given that every year it throws up a good race, it certainly warrants a spot on the calendar for the foreseeable futuཧre.