The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is known for being one of the most unpredictable on the Formula 1 calendar and has produced a number of shocking moments since the first race in Baku in 2016.
Lewis Hamilton suffered a disastrous race in 2021, which saw him fighting for the win but ultimately finishing in last.
A ‘magic’ button mistake at the race restart cost the Brit the Azerbaijan Grand Prix victory and kept him behind Max Verstappen in the championship standings. Verstappen had suffered a catastrophic tyre failure, which saw the grand prix red-flagged and put Hamilton on the front row for a dramatic restart where he could have taken the lead from Sergio Perez.
Hamilton needed to capitalise on a race victory to push himself ahead of Verstappen in the drivers’ standings with just four points separating the pair heading into the weekend.
The seven-time world champion described the mistake in Baku as a ‘humbling experience’, with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff describing the weekend’s performance as ‘unacceptable’.
Lewis Hamilton costly mistake gives Sergio Perez race victory
Due to Verstappen’s crash on lap 43, the race was red-flagged and was set to restart with just two laps before the end of the grand prix.
Lining up on the grid, Hamilton was behind race leader Sergio Perez on the front row but crucially had the inside line heading into Turn 1. Viewers were left concerned before the lights went out, as the Mercedes appeared to be smoking quite dramatically.
But in a strange turn of events, Hamilton’s tyres locked up as the cars approached the corner and the Brit went ploughing down the run-off area. The mistake saw the Mercedes driver drop from second to the very back of the grid, and his opportunity to take the championship lead disappear.
Following the race, Hamilton revealed he had accidentally pressed the ‘magic’ button on his Mercedes steering wheel, which needs to be turned off before the race starts. The ‘magic’ brake button was sat on the back of the steering wheel and would give the car an instant switch to almost full front brake bias.
The ‘magic’ setting would be used to help heat the front tyres at the start of a race or during a restart during warm-up laps, or when driving behind a Safety Car. It is usually more difficult to warm up the front tyres compared to the rears, and Mercedes had been struggling with front tyre temperature all weekend.
The Baku City Circuit is notorious for making tyre warm-up difficult, due to the low-grip surface and predominantly low-speed, shorter corners.
A normal front bias would be set to run around 52-53%, with the button instantly changing the bias to a number pre-determined by the team. It was thought at the time that the ‘magic’ button changed the front bias to 86.5%.
At the end of the race, Hamilton said: “Checo pulled to the left and I moved to the left and I hit a switch unknowingly and it basically just switched off the rear brakes and only the fronts were working.”
If Hamilton had not made the mistake at the safety car restart and taken the victory from Perez, he would have turned the four-point driver’s championship deficit into a 21-point lead over Verstappen.
Following the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Hamilton revealed that the team had not moved the button but had added a shroud around it so that it couldn’t be accidentally pressed again in the future.