Formula 1: Driver Power Rankings after 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton became the third different winner in four races so far in the 2018 Formula 1 season by winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton won for the first time in the 2018 Formula 1 season, ending a six-race win drought that he had experienced since winning last year’s United States Grand Prix in October.

Hamilton’s victory also ended a three-race win drought that Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport had experienced since Valtteri Bottas won the 2017 season finale, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, in November. This was their longest win drought of the V6 turbo hybrid era.

Hamilton’s first win of the 2018 season came in the 51-lap Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the 20-turn, 6.003-kilometer (3.73-mile) Baku City Circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan, but it did not come without several other drivers experiencing more than their fair share of misfortune.

Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, the race’s polesitter, dominated the race until a safety car period caused by a crash between Aston Martin Red Bull Racing teammates Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen with just 13 laps to go in the race allowed Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas to pit and maintain the lead he had gotten after Vettel had come into the pits a few laps earlier.

On the ensuing restart, Vettel tried an inside move going into turn one to attempt to re-take the lead from Bottas, but he locked up his tires and ended up losing a few positions instead, allowing Hamilton to snatch second place. Bottas, meanwhile, held on to the lead.

Then with three laps to go, the right rear tire of Bottas’ car sustained a puncture, allowing Hamilton to snatch the lead before going on to lead the final three laps of the race en route to his first victory of the 2018 season.

How did the action from the streets of Baku affect the Formula 1 Driver Power Rankings? Here are the formulated Formula 1 Driver Power Rankings and the non-formulated Formula 1 Driver Power Rankings after the fourth race of the 2018 Formula 1 season.

To see how the formulated Formula 1 Driver Power Rankings are calculated, click here.