We continue our awards for the 2017 F1 season by looking at a race which had just about everything -- the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
As soon as the first outlines of the Baku City Circuit emerged, it was clear that the track had the potential to provide great racing. Long straights, small run-offs and a tight section along a medieval wall promised so much, yet the first race in 2016 failed to live up to expectations.
A chaotic GP2 race the same year proved the potential was there, but F1 had to wait until year two and the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix for Baku to serve up a thriller. It wasn't F1 in its purest form, but a combination of controversy, collisions and one almighty comeback drive from Daniel Ricciardo made the race stand out among the 19 others this year.
Safety Cars breed Safety Cars
Although there were a number of incidents on the opening lap, including Valtteri Bottas launching his Mercedes into Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari, it was an innocuous failure on Daniil Kvyat's Toro Rosso that provided the catalyst for carnage. By this point there had already been a fair bit of wheel banging and Ricciardo had been forced to pit on lap six when a stray bit of carbon fibre lodged in his brake duct, but it was Kvyat coming to a stop in an awkward position that triggered the first Safety Car.
Racing resumed on lap 16 before it was instantly halted again due to a piece of debris on the racing line at Turn 1. A combination of pitting for new tyres, slow laps behind the Safety Car and Baku's smooth track surface meant tyre temperatures were dropping critically low by this stage, and in turn tempers in the cockpits began to sky rocket.
"He brake tested me!"
On lap 19, Hamilton prepared for the second restart by dropping off the pace of the Safety Car, but in doing so caught Sebastian Vettel by surprise. Vettel, running in second place, was expecting Hamilton to accelerate through the exit of Turn 15 and when the Mercedes failed to do so he rear-ended his title rival. Parts of Vettel's front wing flew into the air and the Ferrari driver immediately opened his radio channel in disgust: "He brake tested me!" he claimed. "What the f--- is going on?!"
The moments that followed were remarkable. As the red mist descended on the Ferrari cockpit, the four-time world champion moved alongside Hamilton -- waving his right hand in the air -- before turning into the Mercedes and making further contact. The incident may have happened at low speed but the intent was clear. And Hamilton was as baffled as anyone.
"Vettel literally just came alongside me and turned in and hit me..." he said.
With no time to digest what had happened, Hamilton had to continue with the restart and successfully led the pack over the start/finish line while Vettel was left to fend off Felipe Massa and the two Force Indias for second. Massa moved up to third while Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon came to blows in Turn 2, scattering more debris across the circuit and prompting a third Safety Car. This time, however, race control had seen enough and opted to diffuse the situation by suspending the race with a red flag.
Ricciardo makes his move
As the cars lined up in the pits and the drivers clambered out there was a brief amount of time to take stock. While the stewards continued to decide on who was to blame for the events behind the Safety Car, Vettel and Hamilton were wisely kept apart as work was carried out to repair minor damage on both cars. The restart took place on lap 24 and to the relief of all concerned it got underway with some clean overtaking.
Ricciardo managed to move from fifth to third by passing both Williams drivers into the first corner while simultaneously holding off an attack from Renault's Nico Hulkenberg. He sealed the deal with late braking on the inside of Turn 1, although it later turned out that Massa was suffering from a suspension issue, which arguably stripped him of a shot at a race win.
A lap later, Hulkenberg took himself out of the running after hitting the barrier on the apex of Turn 7, but fortunately the race did not have to be interrupted with a further Safety Car. Instead the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix settled into a steady rhythm for the first time in over 25 laps, with Hamilton leading the way while Vettel awaited his fate.
Hamilton loses the race, Vettel receives his punishment
But within five laps the tale of the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix took another twist as Hamilton's head rest came loose at the rear. When attempts to lodge it back into place on the pit straight failed, the Mercedes driver was forced to pit from the lead on lap 31, briefly handing the lead to Vettel before the Ferrari driver was finally issued with a ten-second penalty. Much to Mercedes' frustration, Vettel emerged from his penalty ahead of Hamilton, setting up a tense but ultimately well-behaved battle between the two as they moved back up to fourth and fifth at the finish.
Ricciardo, Bottas complete recovery drives
With the two championship rivals out of the picture, Ricciardo inherited the lead on lap 34 and held it to the end. It completed a comeback drive from 17th place after his early pit stop, which was only beaten in terms of positions gained by Bottas, who overtook Lance Stroll -- who still finished with a maiden career podium -- just ahead of the line to secure second after dropping to 20th following his first lap collision with Raikkonen.
But despite a series of remarkable stories among the top ten, all the focus was on Vettel and Hamilton in the immediate aftermath. In a bizarre series of interviews, Vettel refused to acknowledge the incident behind the Safety Car before ultimately apologising when he was hauled in front of the FIA to explain himself a week later. Talk of a race ban came to nothing, but the points lost -- a potential victory and 15-point swing over Hamilton -- remain Vettel's biggest regret from the 2017 season. For the rest of the F1 community, however, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was a high point in 2017 and, in ESPN's reckoning, the race of the season.