Formula 1: Azerbaijan Grand Prix gave Red Bull a perfect day with Verstappen and a debacle for Ferrari

Red Bull I couldn’t ask for a better ending. Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the eighth round of the Formula 1 season. Because he scored a 1-2 for the third time this year and celebrated a solid victory from Max Verstappen, in a race that the Dutchman dominated in the second half to establish himself as the undisputed leader of the championship. And why ferrariwhich had been outlined as one of the strongest teams of this 2022, experienced another day to forget: the abandonment of his two cars and a disillusioned Charles Leclercwho had a good lead three races ago and has now dropped to third place in the standings, behind the two drivers of the Austrian team.

“I think everything went well. I had a very good pace in the car, so I was able to take care of the tires and get a little bit of the rest. I was also a bit lucky with Charles’ departure, because he was coming. very fast. It was a great day for the whole team. “commented Verstappen after signing his fifth victory is of the season

The defending champion now rules with 150 points, 21 more than Pérez and 34 more than Leclerc. What is surprising is that more than 80 percent of those units has collected them in the last five datesto film the history of a championship that began with a clear dominance of the Monegasque, aboard a Ferrari that looked like the best car in the World Championship.

Until just over a month ago, Leclerc was “the driver to beat”. After the first three dates, I took him out 46 points advantage to a complicated Verstappen with a failure in his car’s fuel system. But Red Bull identified the problem after the race Australia and from the fourth date, Crazy Max he began to build his healing. He has won in Imola, Miami and Barcelona and with that victory, Spanish soil rose to first place in the standings for the first time in the year. He was third in Monaco, where he celebrated his teammate, and this Sunday he took another win in Baku, which left him sharper than ever.

The Dutch, third party, did it an impeccable career and took advantage of Leclerc’s retirement on lap 20 to take the lead in the race. From then on, he has done nothing but widen the gap on his pursuers, supported by the message of “No need to fight” who arrived from the pits to Pérez, well placed as an escort for the champion.

The Mexican accepted the order, although there was probably little he could have done given the impressive pace of his teammate, who suffered much less from tire degradation. And Verstappen, who had no rivals on the track, ended up crossing the finish line with more than 20 seconds ahead on the Czech and nearly 46 on the British George Russell, of Mercedeswho completed the podium.

“Overall, I am very, very happy with the balance of the car. It has an incredible pace,” celebrated the Dutchman.

The other side of the enormous joy in the garage of the Austrian team, which extended its lead also in the constructors’ championship (it was 26 points before the Baku race and now has 80), was the desolation in the Ferrari garage and The sadness of Leclerc when he got out of the car.

“It hurts a lot. I don’t know how to describe this feeling, I’m very disappointed. We have to review what happened, because we can’t let it happen again.”commented the Monegasque.

His disappointment was no less. In the first part of the race he was the protagonist. After starting in the lead, he lost first place to Pérez, who made a great maneuver in the first corner and was ahead. But Leclerc regained control when the two Red Bulls pitted on lap 18. And he was controlling a great pace when his Ferrari gave up. He crawled back into the pit lane, engulfed in white smoke rising from the engine.

To complete the black day for the Scuderia, Carlos Sainz also had to leave due to a hydraulic problem with his car, when they had just finished ten laps.

Ferrari’s concern was heightened when it also saw as the Alfa Romeo from Chinese Zhou Guangyu and the Hass The Dane Kevin Magnussen, who uses the engines, also retired due to technical problems.

“Definitely it’s a concern. The increase in power over last year has been huge. Obviously we’re paying for it in terms of reliability. There is work to be done. We have to understand and analyze, I don’t have the answer yet,” He has said. Mattia Binottodirector of the Italian team.

Leclerc, who had achieved a 1-2-1 in the first three games of the year, now has it three in a row without getting on the podium. He also ended up starting in Spain due to a mechanical problem with his car, which began to lose power almost halfway through the race, when he was leading. And in Monaco, a couple of mistakes in his team’s tire strategy left him with no chance of fighting for victory in a chaotic race marked by rain and a couple of red flags.

The Monegasque has thus seen how the great advantage he had taken at the beginning of the World Cup has transformed a very big difference against him. And with a car that doesn’t respond to him on the track as it should, he was faced with a complicated scenario. However, he does not lose hope.

“I went through more difficult moments, but five races ago I arrived with a very large distance. I intend to recover and try to find a solution.”he assured before saying goodbye to Baku.

Leclerc and Ferrari have room to recover. After all, they are still there 14 races on the calendar – next Sunday in Canada – and, as they have seen firsthand, in this crazy Formula 1 season, everything can change in a couple of dates. But the Monegasque and his team will have to quickly find a solution to his car’s problems, because Verstappen and Red Bull are intractable and won’t give them an advantage.