Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won his 25th Formula 1 Grand Prix yesterday in Baku (Aze) and drew level with Niki Lauda in the all-time list of the best. The Dutchman finished ahead of his team-mate Sergio Perez (Mex), over whom he extended his championship lead to 21 points. The podium in Azerbaijan was completed by Mercedes driver George Russell, who also scored points in the eighth race of the season.
The tragic hero of the Grand Prix was once again Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. A week after a mistake in strategy cost him a possible win in Monaco, he had to retire halfway through the race in Baku with a smoking engine. “It’s frustrating,” said the Monegasque, who started the race from pole position – his sixth this season. Leclerc was second behind Verstappen when he retired. “I don’t really have any words for it, it’s a huge disappointment,” added the 24-year-old, who, despite being 34 points behind, is not yet giving up the world title. “I still believe we can win the championship but we have to get these things under control.” The fact that teammate Carlos Sainz retired early due to hydraulic damage made the Ferrari fiasco perfect.
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Pain at Hamilton
In the absence of serious competition, Red Bull Racing rode at the front to an unchallenged one-two – their third of the year after Imola and Barcelona. “Was that a good race, or was that a good race?” Verstappen asked rhetorically. “We had incredible speed this time.”
The latter let Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko make the prediction that Ferrari would also have been beaten on the track.
The fans did not choose one of the podium drivers as driver of the race, but fourth-placed Lewis Hamilton. Tormented by severe back pain, the Brit clearly had trouble climbing out of his cockpit after crossing the finish line. There were encouraging words and congratulations from Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, who described the current W13 as “Sch…kübel”. “It hurt incredibly, I had to force myself to keep going for the last ten laps. They were the longest laps of my life,” said Hamilton, who complained about his car bouncing a lot.
Neither Mercedes nor Ferrari have much time to get their problems under control, as they are heading straight to Canada, where they will be driving in Montreal next Sunday.
Source: Nachrichten
