RACE REPORT
He summed up his afternoon , “ Just a crazy race with so much happening . I was one lap down in the beginning and had to overtake under the Safety Car and catch them all again . This just shows never give up as you never know what is going to happen .”
“ The team managed to fix the car a bit in the red flag . It was just really fun . With what happened in the beginning , it ’ s a good result for us .”
“ Going into Turn Two I was on the inside , Kimi was on the outside , and there was no space for me to go but over the curb . The car obviously jumps and I couldn ’ t keep the line . It was a racing incident ,” concluded Bottas .
Although he did not win or even finish second , the day belonged Stroll . The teenager put behind him a torrid start to the season which prompted a great deal of criticism from all quarters , and after his first points finish in Canada last time out he went even better in Baku .
He out-qualified his vastly experienced teammate Felipe Massa a day earlier and then delivered a mature performance , of the highest order , to stay out of trouble and set an impressive pace to claim his first podium and becoming the second youngest top three finisher in F1 history .
The boy who was not long ago the target of many jokes , became a man who won the respect of fans on the day in Baku – voted by them as the Driver of the Day – and a thoroughly deserving accolade indeed .
It was a very happy podium , with Stroll perhaps the happiest of all , “ I ’ m just lost for words right now . I can ’ t quite realise what ’ s just happened . It was a hectic race , people crashing and we just stayed out of trouble . I kept my head cool , took it to the end and my pace was good .