Two weeks later in Azerbaijan, Massa qualified in 9th behind his teammate Lance Stroll for the first time that season and ahead of the eventual race winner Daniel Ricciardo. In the race, Massa had a good start, avoiding the turn 2 collision between Kimi Räikkönen and Valtteri Bottas, climbing up to sixth. Massa showed good pace throughout the race and managed to climb up to third passing both Kimi Räikkönen and Sergio Pérez during the safety car restarts and almost pulled off a sublime move on Sebastian Vettel for second place, before the race was red-flagged due to large amounts of debris around the track. When the race restarted, Massa suffered from broken rear damper and had to retire from the race on lap 25. A race many people believed Massa could have won.