Max Verstappen opened a 21-point lead over team-mate Sergio Perez in the Formula One World Cup when Red Bull finished 1-2 in the Grand Prix of Azerbaijan on a disastrous Ferrari day.
Verstappen had a difficult start in defending the title, which he won so dramatically last year, suffering from reliability problems at the start of the season, which have now become a thorn in Ferrari’s side. Charles Leclerc, who started in pole position in Baku and has done so in six of the eight races of the season so far, is leading the race to engine failure after 19 of the 51 laps of the race.
“It really hurts,” said the Ferrari man, who has stepped down from the lead in two of the last three GPs. “It simply came to our notice then. We didn’t have big problems at the beginning of the season and we didn’t change big things. It’s hard to understand and very frustrating. “
Leclerc teammate Carlos Sainz also retired early due to hydraulic problems, the Italian team’s first double retirement since Monza 2020, giving Red Bull the race.
Perez, a specialist from Baku and winner in Monaco two weeks ago, took the lead in the early laps after beating Leclerc in the first turn, but after beating Verstappen for the second race in a row, he suffered worse tire degradation and had to give his best. of the defending champion after 14 laps, the Dutchman will win comfortably. His 25th win tied him with former sports legends Jim Clark and Nicki Lauda.
Christian Horner, Red Bull’s team leader, said: “It was bad luck for Ferrari today. They took a cheap early pit stop under VSC [virtual safety car] for Leclerc, which gave him an advantage, but would mean a very long stay with these tires. We had a good pace and we would be in better shape later. It would be fascinating to see how it plays out. ”
At one point, Red Bull pilots received a “No Battle” instruction on a runway known for the danger of narrow walls and lack of leak zones. However, Horner explained: “Sergio was magic in qualifying yesterday, but maybe we gave priority to qualifying a little more than his side of the garage. He hit the rear tires a little faster than Max today. All we asked of them was to give them a place, and they did. It was a very mature drive from Max and a redemption for last year. ” In Baku in 2021, Verstappen was robbed by a flat tire six laps from the end while leading.
Charles Leclerc failed to turn pole position into a victory in the race for the fourth time in a row. Photo: Dan Istitene / Formula 1 / Getty Images
After the dominant Red Bulls, George Russell marked his third podium of the year and kept the record as the only driver to score in every race. But driving a Mercedes, which still suffers from “mixing” or jumping as a result of this year’s new aerodynamic regulations, was far from a comfortable afternoon. “It was pretty brutal there,” Russell confirmed. “I’m going to sleep well tonight after a race on a track that is usually not so physical.”
Lewis Hamilton knew exactly how he felt struggling to get out of his car after finishing fourth, behind teammate Russell for the seventh time in eight races. “I was biting my teeth in pain,” said the seven-time world champion. “I can’t express it. The adrenaline rushed me. You were just praying it would end. ”
Quick guide
GP of Azerbaijan: full result
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1 Max Verstappen (No) Red Bull 1 hour 34 minutes 05.941 seconds, 2 Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull in 20.823 seconds, 3 George Russell (Great Britain) Mercedes GP at 45,995, 4 Lewis Hamilton (UK) Mercedes GP in 1 minute 11,679 seconds, 5 Pierre Gasly (Fr) Scuderia AlphaTauri at 1: 17.299, 6 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Aston Martin at 1: 24.099, 7 Fernando Alonso (Sp) Alpine at 1: 28.596, 8 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) McLaren at 1: 32.207, 9 Lando Norris (Great Britain) McLaren at 1: 32.556, 10 Esteban Ocon (Fr) Alpine at 1: 48.184, 11 Valteri Botas (Finn) Alfa Romeo in 1 lap, 12 Alexander Albon (Thai) Williams in 1 lap, 13 Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Scuderia AlphaTauri in 1 lap, 14 Mick Schumacher (Ger) Haas F1 in 1 lap, 15 Nicholas Latifi (Cannes) Williams in 1 lap, 16 Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin on 5 lapsDNF: Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1, Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Alpha Romeo, Carlos Sainz Jr. (Sp) Ferrari, Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari.Fastest tour Sergio Pérez 1 minute 46.046 seconds in the 36th lap
Overall ranking
drivers: 1 Max Verstappen (No) 150 points, 2 Sergio Perez (Mex) 129, 3 Charles Leclerc (Mon) 116, 4 George Russell (Great Britain) 99, 5 Carlos Sainz (Sp) 83, 6 Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain) 62, 7 Lando Norris (GB) 50, 8 Valteri Botas (Finn) 40, 9 Esteban Ocon (Fr) 31, 10 Pierre Gasley (Fri) 16, 11 Fernando Alonso (Sp) 16, 12 Kevin Magnussen (Day) 15, 13 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) 15, 14 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) 13, 15 Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) 11, 16 Alexander Albon (Tia) 3, 17 Lance Stroll (Can) 2, 18 Guanyu Zhou (Chn) 1.
Manufacturers: 1 Red Bull 279 points, 2 Ferrari 199, 3 Mercedes 161, 4 McLaren 65, 5 alpine 47, 6 Alfa Romeo 41, 7 AlphaTauri 27, 8 Haas 15, 9 Aston Martin 15, 10 Williams 3.
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Once again, this was not an impressive performance by the current champions of the constructors, but Hamilton was still optimistic enough to give any hope. “I think we’re losing 1 second of a lap with this jump and once we fix it, we’ll be right there in the race,” he said.
However, this is a familiar refrain from the first round of the championship, as Toto Wolff apologized for what Hamilton had experienced. “We all know it’s a bit of a nasty driving box right now and we’re sorry about the rear, but we’ll take care of it ourselves,” said the director of the Mercedes team.
Almost next to a man, drivers doubted the bouncing phenomenon, which is not exclusive to Mercedes and which, they fear, could cause long-term physical damage.
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Pierre Gasley achieved his best result of the season with fifth place for the Italian team AlphaTauri, ahead of a strike from four-time former Aston Martin world champion Sebastian Vettel, who could potentially finish fourth if it were not for a quick 12-lap escape trip. .
Fernando Alonso, who now boasts the longest career in Formula One in terms of 7771 days, finished seventh for Alpine, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Britain’s Lando Norris at McLarens and French team-mate Esteban Ocon.
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