It seems far from Ferrari’s idyllic start to the season. The two successes in three races of Charles Leclerc had hinted at the revival of the prancing horse. But the thoroughbred is still restive. In Baku, Sunday June 12, he flatly refused an obstacle and returned to the box even before halfway, smoking nostrils, broken engine. Red Bull, the other stallion on the circuit, did not ask for so much. And Max Verstappen did not need to whip to sign his 4th victory of the season, ahead of Sergio Perez, who took the opportunity to take second place in the drivers’ championship, 31 points behind his teammate. The two Mercedes follow the two Red Bulls under the checkered flag, Pierre Gasly is 5th.
A tough break for Leclerc as his Baku hopes go up in smoke #AzerbaijanGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/LEYq3hVA8f
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 12, 2022
The start of this 5th edition of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix had announced the color for Ferrari. A few hundredths of skating too much and Charles Leclerc, who started on pole, had to let Sergio Perez pass at the first corner. The Monegasque driver, who blocked his wheels in passing, may have just missed his chance, that of upsetting the Red Bulls. Because if the red single-seaters remain in front in qualifying, the situation is indeed changing in the race where the Austrian firm now seems a step above. Visual confirmation with this flight from Sergio Perez in front of Leclerc in the first laps.
While the retirement of Carlos Sainz, after a hydraulic problem, led to a virtual safety car on the 10th lap, causing a great ballet of pit stops in which Red Bull did not participate, Max Verstappen put on the boss’s costume. He overtook his teammate with authority on lap 15 and the two cars with the winged bull flew away without firing a shot. In ambush with his free stop, Charles Leclerc could nevertheless continue to hope. Until that terrible 20th lap when the Ferrari engine went up in smoke…
For the 4th time in a row, the Scuderia was therefore unable to materialize the pole position of No. 16 with a victory. This is starting to do a lot for the Maranello firm, which will absolutely have to resolve its reliability concerns if it wants to thwart Red Bull’s hegemony. “That’s three hard knocks in a row”, lamented the Monegasque pilot at the microphone of Canal +, just after his retirement. “The motivation remains the same, but it hurts…”
From then on, the race turned into a health walk or almost for Max Verstappen. The reigning world champion kept his teammate at a respectable distance and managed his lead like a cushy father. Behind the two Red Bulls, alone in the world, the Mercedes discreetly pointed the tip of their mustache. George Russell, once again impeccable, climbed on the 3rd step of the podium while Lewis Hamilton, despite a stewed back and the resistance of Pierre Gasly, ended up snatching 4th place.
MAX: Today we had incredible pace in the car. Overall really happy with how the balance of the car was. To have the 1-2 as a team – a really good day for us”#AzerbaijanGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/hnBnNLDjJX
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 12, 2022
A 4th place light years away from the one with whom the Briton was fighting for the title a few months ago. The fearless Max Verstappen certainly does not care and therefore signs a 25th career victory. The one that already makes him the equal of two legends of this sport, Niki Lauda and Jim Clark. The one, too, which allows him to make a considerable break in the championship on his teammate and on Charles Leclerc, now at 34 points. The start of the season is definitely far away.