F1: Top 5 moments from the Azerbaijan GP  

The city of Baku has only hosted two Formula One races since its inaugural Grand Prix in 2016.

But there has been some fair share of memorable moments over the last couple of years.

Azerbaijan has been officially called the European Grand Prix in which the race title used to belong to the Valencia Street Circuit until it's last race in 2012, which was won by Fernando Alonso (Ferrari at the time).

Nico Rosberg of Mercedes won the first ever F1 race to take place in Azerbaijan which would help his chances of overcoming Lewis Hamilton in the 2016 world championship.

The 2017 edition of the race was even more dramatic when Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo won an astonishing race after the Australian started in 10th position.

This weekend is looking to be another twist to the short history of Azerbaijan's contribution towards the F1 world.

Let's take a look at Sportskeeda's top five Azerbaijan Grand Prix moments...

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#5 Perez getting the podium for Force India

Checo has had some experience on the F1 podium

If Sergio Perez had announced retirement from F1 today - he would surely be remembered for his tyre management skills that have helped him achieve a total of seven podium finishes since he began with Sauber in 2011.

Perez will also be remembered for his one year stint at McLaren when he replaced Lewis Hamilton after the Briton made his move to Mercedes.

His McLaren spell proved to be a tough time for the Mexican as the 2013 season started the long winless period for the British team.

McLaren's last race win in F1 was at the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2012.

Perez then moved onto Force India where he would have a better spell. He has so far added four podium finishes to the three podiums he secured in 2012 for Sauber.

At the first Azerbaijan race in 2016, Perez had one of the best weekends of his F1 career. In qualifying, the 28-year-old was the second fastest on the track and would start alongside Nico Rosberg on race day.

Perez finished third but one of his finest moments in the race was overtaking Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen to seal the podium deal.

#4 Ocon and Perez were no teammates

Ocon and Perez have had some heated moments despite being teammates

Force India may have brought a surprise to the grid with their car leverage being covered in pink at the beginning of 2017.

But another surprise was the team finishing fourth in the constructors' championship in that year too, beating the likes of McLaren and Renault to finish just outside the top three.

But 2017 might have felt like a long journey for the drivers of Perez and Esteban Ocon.

Yes, they were teammates for representing the same team on the track but it sure didn't look like it in on race days.

There were moments in 2017 where both drivers had clashed with each other on the circuit - damaging the team's chances of scoring points and damaging a relationship between the Mexican and the Frenchman.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix was one good example of how sour their relationship has come when Ocon got onto the curb and damaged Perez's front wing in the process.

Both drivers were fourth and fifth at the time of the incident but the clash would retire Perez out of the race and drag Ocon down to sixth place.

#3 Stroll finished third but it could have been second place

Stroll's best F1 race to date

Williams driver Lance Stroll will have fond memories when he takes to the Baku Street Circuit on Friday morning after the events of last year's race.

Stroll was welcomed to the F1 driver's line up ahead of the 2017 championship by teaming up with veteran racer Felipe Massa.

The Canadian has been hoping to make just as much of an impact than fellow countryman Jacques Villeneuve did when he won the world championship in 1997.

Stroll's best race result has so far come in the capital of Azerbaijan when he finished third - this would be Williams' highest finish in 2017.

But Stroll could have been one place better and be announced runner-up of the so-called 'European Grand Prix'.

On the final lap, Stroll was ahead of Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas and was accepting Ricciardo to get first place as the man from Red Bull was too far ahead.

Stroll looked favourite to finish behind Ricciardo but then came the great power of a Mercedes on the home straight, as Bottas pipped the young Williams driver to the finish line with just moments to spare.

It was still a great day for Stroll and the Williams team but it could have just been a little bit more extra special.

#2 Ricciardo wins Amazing Azerbaijan race

Riccardo will look to put up a fine performance at Baku

Daniel Ricciardo may always be the happiest driver on the F1 grid but he also knows how to win entertaining races.

Recently this season, we witnessed Ricciardo win an emphatic Chinese Grand Prix for Red Bull after starting the race in sixth.

The Australian has never won a race from starting in the podium positions. A good enough reason for why many call him 'the race burglar'.

One of Ricciardo's finest and memorable wins was the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. It was a street race that had everything from teammates colliding to Stroll being beaten to second just a whisker before the finish line.

Apart from Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton's debacle earlier on in that race, the other highlight was Ricciardo winning under the Baku sunset after starting in 10th position.

A rather impressive achievement when you consider the circuit is a street track leaving the drivers with a limited amount of overtaking opportunities.

Ricciardo's win also included one of the overtakes of the year when the Aussie overtook three cars in turn one. He really left Stroll, Nico Hulkenberg and Felipe Massa for dead with that move.

Can the smiley assassin kill it again on Sunday?

#1 Vettel rams into Hamilton

Azerbaijan GP 2017 was one heated race

The 2017 F1 season will be remembered for Hamilton and Vettel finally contending for the world championship against one another after the Briton spent three seasons against his ex-teammate Rosberg.

A rivalry is not complete until both drivers start to show their anger at one another and at last year's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, we saw a very unusual moment that sure spiced up the relationship between Hamilton and Vettel.

While the Mercedes driver was leading the pack behind a safety car, Vettel's Ferrari collided into the back of Hamilton's car.

The German ranted to his colleagues on the radio that Hamilton was 'brake testing' him.

Moments later Vettel drove to the side of Hamilton and rammed into the Briton's car.

The consequence for Vettel was a ten-second penalty which would, later on, deny his chances of victory in the city of Baku.

Hamilton was beyond unhappy with Vettel's actions on the track and let's just say their relationship had changed after that day.