Verstappen extends his lead after Ferrari failure
CHARLES Leclerc has demanded that Ferrari eliminate their reliability woes to prevent this season’s Formula One battle from becoming a one-horse race.
Max Verstappen extended his championship lead by driving relatively unopposed to victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after Leclerc and team-mate Carlos Sainz failed to finish on a desperate day for Ferrari in Baku.
Leclerc was bidding to avenge Ferrari’s flat-footed strategy in Monaco a fortnight ago which cost him victory at his home event.
But on lap 20 of 51, Leclerc’s engine expired and he retired from the lead. A power unit failure at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya last month means the Monegasque has now failed to finish in two of his last three appearances.
Leclerc led Verstappen by as many as 47 points after the third round in Australia – the scene of his last triumph – on April 10.
But, ahead of next weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – the ninth race of 22 this season – Leclerc trails the Dutchman by 34 points in the championship standings.
Yesterday’s race could indeed prove pivotal in Verstappen’s quest to win back-to-back crowns.
Sergio Perez finished second to complete a Red Bull one-two and is now the closest challenger to Verstappen after he leapfrogged Leclerc in the standings.
The Mexican, who took a bonus point for the speediest lap, is 21 points adrift of his team-mate.
George Russell claimed his third podium finish for Mercedes in third, while team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who complained of severe back pain in his jumpy Silver Arrows, took fourth.
“It hurts,” said Leclerc, 24. “We really need to look into that for it not to happen again.
“I can’t really find the right words to describe what has happened. It is just very, very disappointing.
“We were fast and didn’t have big problems in the first part of the season. But now it seems we have more problems even if we haven’t made massive changes to the car. It is difficult to understand.”
Leclerc delivered a mighty lap in qualifying to put his Ferrari at the front of the pack, only to lose out to Perez on the short stampede to the opening corner.
Perez moved two seconds clear of Leclerc, with Verstappen occupying the Monegasque’s mirrors.
At the start of the ninth lap, cue the first of two Ferrari blows as Sainz parked his scarlet machine following a hydraulic failure.
Out came the virtual safety car, and in came Leclerc for a change of tyres. Perez and Verstappen elected against stopping for fresh rubber before the Red Bull drivers traded positions on lap 15.
Verstappen took the lead into the
Formula 1, Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Baku City Circuit – Final positions after Race (51 laps):
1 M Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1hr 34mins 05.941secs,
2 S Perez (Mex) Red Bull at 20.823secs, 3 G Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP at 45.995, 4 L Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP at 1min 11.679secs, 5 P Gasly (Fra) Scuderia AlphaTauri at 1:17.299, 6 S Vettel (Ger) Aston Martin at 1:24.099,
7 F Alonso (Spa) Alpine at 1:28.596, 8 D Ricciardo
(Aus) McLaren at 1:32.207, 9 L Norris (Gbr) McLaren at 1:32.556, 10 E Ocon (Fra) Alpine at 1:48.184, 11 V Bottas (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing at 1 lap, 12 A Albon (Tha) Williams at 1 lap, 13 Y Tsunoda (Jpn) Scuderia AlphaTauri at 1 lap, 14 M Schumacher (Ger) Haas F1 at 1 lap, 15 N Latifi (Can) Williams at 1 lap, 16 L Stroll (Can) Aston Martin at 5 laps. Not Classified: K Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 31 laps completed, G Zhou (Chn) Alfa Romeo Racing 23 laps completed, C Sainz Jr (Spa) Ferrari 21 laps completed, C Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 8 laps completed. Fastest lap: Perez 1min 46.046secs on lap 36
World Championship Standings – Drivers: 1 Verstappen 150 points, 2 Perez 129, 3 Leclerc 116, 4 Russell 99, 5 Sainz Jr 83, 6 Hamilton 62, 7 Norris 50, 8 Bottas 40, 9 Ocon 31, 10 Gasly 16, 11 Alonso 16, 12 Magnussen 15, 13 Ricciardo 15, 14 Vettel 13, 15 Tsunoda 11, 16 Albon 3, 17 Stroll 2, 18 Zhou 1. Manufacturers: 1 Red Bull 279, 2 Ferrari 199, 3 Mercedes 161, 4 McLaren 65, 5 Alpine 47, 6 Alfa Romeo Racing 41, 7 AlphaTauri
27, 8 Haas F1 15, 9 Aston Martin 15, 10 Williams 3. opening bend with Perez offering little resistance.
Leclerc held a 12-second lead over Verstappen after the reigning world champion stopped for new boots on lap 20, but, moments later, Leclerc’s race was over, and with it, possibly his championship dreams too.
In a plume of white smoke Leclerc limped back to the pits.
“I would always say s*** happens,” said Verstappen, unsympathetic to Leclerc’s car failure. “That’s racing. It happened to me, it happened to many people in the past and it’s happening to Charles now.”
Somerset driver Lando Norris finished ninth in his McLaren, one place behind his teammate Daniel Ricciardo.