Baku GP: RedBull 1-2, Ferrari DNFs

Another disaster for Ferrari with double DNFs as RedBull making the most of it and Max winning the Baku GP.

RedBull : Easy pickings for Max and Checo at Baku

Max Verstappen strengthened his position at the top of the F1 world championship by leading a Red Bull 1-2 at Baku, after Charles Leclerc retired with a power unit failure. 

The reigning world champion overtook Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez – who was instructed not to fight Verstappen – for second place, before inheriting the lead when Leclerc’s engine conked out 20 laps in. 

Verstappen then cruised to a comfortable fifth victory of the season, and the 25th of his career, which has seen him move into a 21-point lead at the top of the championship over Perez. 

Ferrari: Another disaster

Leclerc’s second power-unit related retirement in three races means the Ferrari driver has now fallen 34 points behind Verstappen after eight races. 

Ferrari endured a nightmare race in Baku with their first double DNF of the season. 

Carlos Sainz dropped out of fourth place early on when his Ferrari switched off with an expected hydraulic issue. Soon Leclerc joined him on the sidelines after suffering a hammer blow to his title hopes. Leclerc’s hopes of taking third win of the season ended in dramatic fashion on the main straight when smoke was seen pouring out of the back of his Ferrari, forcing him into the pits and retirement.

Mercedes making the most of the situation

George Russell secured his third podium of the season in third place. He was ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton, who battled back pain in his bouncing Mercedes.

AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly claimed a strong fifth place, ahead of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso’s Alpine. 

Daniel Ricciardo beat McLaren teammate Lando Norris to eighth, while Alpine’s Esteban Ocon completed the points-paying positions in 10th. 

There was more reliability issues for Ferrari’s customer teams. Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen also stopped with technical issues.

With four of the six Ferrari-powered cars failing to see the chequered flag, there will be real concern at Maranello over the state of the Italian team’s reliability.

Baku 2022 : Max won the race with both Ferrari DNF