Rarely in the history of Formula 1 can a race winner have looked so subdued in the aftermath of victory.
Lewis Hamilton could barely crack a smile as he reflected on the Azerbaijan GP, not even when the Mercedes driver was reminded that he had taken the lead of the world championship for the first time in 2018 following his 63rd F1 win.
It was an odd final act to an odd race, in which neither of its leading performers – the flawless Valtteri Bottas and the not-quite-flawless Sebastian Vettel – made it on to the podium while one of the sport’s all-time greats delivered what he described as “probably one of the best races I have ever done” just to take seventh behind a Sauber.
Formula 1 2018 is the season which keeps on surprising: unpredictable, chaotic, illogical and a whole lot of fun.
“That was just a brutal race and probably exactly the kind of Grand Prix that fans want to see, with twists and turns at every point,” reflected Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
But despite the Silver Arrows boss’ eulogy, and their first win of the new campaign, the world champions will have departed Baku with fresh cause for concern.
For the first time in F1’s hybrid era, there is little doubt that Mercedes are no longer F1’s number one.
And little doubt Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel are the new 2018 favourites.
Are Mercedes just tyred out?
Although the table never lies in sport, it does occasionally tell a porkie. The Drivers’ Championship standings may have Hamilton in front but the reality is that he is playing catch-up to Vettel and a Ferrari car outperforming his own.
The first to admit Bottas deserved to win Sunday’s race, Hamilton was just as quick to admit he was slow all weekend.
“I struggled throughout the weekend and I’m definitely struggling to extract the car’s potential,” he acknowledged. “We’ve definitely got a lot of work still to do, we still are behind. Their pure pace is a lot ahead of ours at the moment.”
