Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull) won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday in the streets of Baku, his fifth success of the season and the 25th of his career, and escaped the Formula 1 world championship.
Verstappen beat Mexican Sergio Perez (Red Bull) and Briton George Russell (Mercedes). The reigning world champion is widening his lead at the top of the drivers’ standings, with 31 points over Perez and 34 over Monegasque Charles Leclerc, who started on pole position, but was forced to retire from his Ferrari before halfway through the race.
Starting in the second row behind Perez and Leclerc, Verstappen patiently built up his victory, overtaking his teammate who had damaged his tires too much at the start of the race, then witnessing from a distance the failure of Leclerc’s engine on the 20th of the 51 laps of the circuit. city of Baku. For its part, Ferrari saw Leclerc retire with an engine problem, just a few laps after the retirement of Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr., whose car suffered hydraulic problems.
Leclerc remains on three disappointing Grands Prix: three weeks ago he retired in Spain at the Barcelona circuit, and two weeks ago he had to settle for 4th place in Monaco, following a big strategic error of his team. Undisputed king of qualifying this season (6 pole positions in eight sessions), Leclerc sees Verstappen take off in the standings. In the constructors’ standings, Red Bull Racing inflicted a 44-0 on Ferrari this weekend in Baku, counting the fastest lap point for Perez. Red alert for the Scuderia.
