Lewis Hamilton has raced eight times at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and finished all eight. At a circuit that has swallowed more cars than almost any other on the calendar, that is the statistic that tells you most about him.
One win, one pole, two podiums and 79 points. The record would look better still if not for one afternoon that got away from him completely.
One win, one pole, and the one that got away
Hamilton took pole for the very first Baku race he contested in 2017 and came away fifth, which set the tone for a record where Saturday and Sunday rarely agreed with each other.
The win arrived the following year. He qualified second in 2018 and was there at the end when the race in front of him fell apart, which at this circuit is a skill rather than an accident. Second place in 2019 made it back-to-back front-row starts converted into serious points.
Those three years account for 53 of his 79 Azerbaijan points. Everything since has been a slower, harder business.
2021 is the afternoon he would take back. He started second and finished 15th with nothing, having run off at the first corner at a late restart when the race had just been handed to him. No mechanical failure, no contact, no retirement on the sheet. Just a blank where a win should be.
It remains the only time in eight visits that he has finished a Baku race outside the points.
Lewis Hamilton's Azerbaijan GP record year by year
Every Azerbaijan Grand Prix start, with the grid slot it came from and what it was worth.
| Season | Grid | Finish | Points | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 1 | P5 | 10 | Mercedes |
| 2018 | 2 | P1 | 25 | Mercedes |
| 2019 | 2 | P2 | 18 | Mercedes |
| 2021 | 2 | P15 | 0 | Mercedes |
| 2022 | 7 | P4 | 12 | Mercedes |
| 2023 | 5 | P6 | 8 | Mercedes |
| 2024 | 19 | P9 | 2 | Mercedes |
| 2025 | 12 | P8 | 4 | Ferrari |
A record with no blank pages
Seven of the eight starts came with Mercedes, and the drift down the order from 2022 onwards tracks that car rather than the driver. Nineteenth on the grid in 2024 still became ninth by the flag.
Eight races, eight finishes and points in seven of them. Baku has never taken Hamilton out, which at this circuit is worth something on its own. He returns on 26 September in the SF-26, chasing a second win here eight years after the first.
