Verstappen dominates at Baku, Perez P2 for maximum Red Bull points; Russell P3 after disastrous Ferrari double DNF leaves Leclerc & Sainz pointless

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix from the tricky and demanding Baku City Circuit usually throws up more than a few curveballs for the competitors and this Sunday’s 2022 edition was no exception. While Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc started from pole, he was immediately overtaken by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez going into Turn 1 right after the lights went out to start the race.  Once again, it seemed apparent that Ferrari may have the superior one lap pace but Red Bull has the complete package to actually win races. As Perez danced away from the Monegasque’s Prancing Horse, his teammate Max Verstappen applied pressure on Leclerc from P3 and the race looked to be setting up for a three car contest for supremacy and podium positions. But the ominous signs for Ferrari on the day began on Lap 9 when Leclerc’s stablemate, Carlos Sainz, running just off the pace of the elite trio in P4, lost power and pulled his F1-75 into the escape road at Turn 4. It turned out to be terminal hydraulics failure and the unlucky Spaniard was out of the race prematurely, a recurring theme for Sainz this season. And, obviously, now the Scuderia braintrust had to be wondering if their other car might suffer a similar fate.

But first a Virtual Safety Car was deployed by race control in order to clear Sainz’s stricken mount. Ferrari immediately called Leclerc into the pits for the “cheap” pit stop under the reduced VSC speeds, as did Mercedes for their two Silver Arrows. But Red Bull decided to stay out and keep track position, knowing that Baku was likely good for at least one more full-course yellow of one sort or another. While Perez still led, Leclerc’s stop vaulted Verstappen ahead of him into P2 and when the VSC ended towards the end of Lap 10, Verstappen immediately began closing down his teammate. Perez’s early aggression appeared to have taken a toll on his tires and the Mexican struggled with traction coming off the many slow speed corners of this twisty street circuit. By Lap 15 of this 51-lap contest, Verstappen was able to execute an easy overtake for the lead and Perez subsequently made his first stop for fresh Pirellis two laps later, doffing the Mediums for the more durable Hards. Verstappen then came in for his first stop on Lap 19, following the same tire sequence as Perez and while he was passed by Leclerc for the lead during that stop, the Dutch master crucially came out ahead of his Red Bull teammate. So it was Leclerc leading, Verstappen now in P2 and Perez in P3 as Lap 20 began. And then Ferrari’s  nightmare scenario became a reality.

With an ugly puff of blue smoke and a harsh grinding sound, Leclerc’s engine blew on the latter third of that twentieth lap. It would be his final one of the day, as his stricken and smoking Ferrari crawled into the pits and was forced into an early retirement. That made for a disastrous double-DNF on the day for Ferrari and insured that the mighty team from Maranello would score exactly zero points in either championship. Meanwhile, Verstappen took seemed to use the opportunity of seeing his key title rival fail to finish even half the race as motivation to pull out an insurmountable lead over his teammate Perez, the only other car remaining on track who might possibly have given Max any further trouble. But the Mexican couldn’t parlay his splendid Monaco victory two weeks ago into a repeat performance on the streets of Baku and he never really come close to his championship leading teammate again. While Perez had the consolation of setting the fastest lap of the race for the bonus point, it was Verstappen who walked away with the win some 20+ seconds ahead. For team Red Bull, it was maximum points out of this race from their dynamic duo and, combined with Ferrari’s disastrous double DNF, it put them some 80 points ahead in the all important Constructors’ Championship. Once again, after a strong start Ferrari can feel their title aspirations slipping away, as they have done so frequently in recent years when they’ve been competitive. Worse still, the Scuderia have only a week before the next race in Canada to try and get a handle on their technical woes and deliver their drivers a more reliable machine and get them back into a title hunt that has tilted slowly but decisively Red Bull’s way over the course of the last five races.

Behind that supreme top two Red Bulls, Mercedes also capitalized on Ferrari’s misfortune, with George Russell taking the last step on the podium in P3 and Lewis Hamilton coming home P4. The news wasn’t all good for the Silver Arrows, however, because the chronic porpoising on the cars was so bad in Baku that both drivers complained of back issues during and after the race and there is already some speculation that Hamilton might not make the start in Montreal as a result. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly had his best finish of the season in P5, while veterans Sebastian Vettel of Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso of Alpine crossed the line in P6 and P7 respectively. The two papaya-colored McLarens mainly fought each other all race and finished a decent P8 for Daniel Ricciardo and P9 for the fiesta Lando Norris, who chafed at being told to play the team game and finish behind Riccardo in return for earlier favors given him by the Aussie. Alonso’s Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon took the last point in P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Azerbaijan GP:

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time and is yet another street circuit — the Canadian Grand Prix from the beautiful Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on Notre Dame Island in the middle of the St. Lawrence River. Can Ferrari figure out their engine and other technical woes in time to properly put the fight to Red Bull or will Verstappen and his team begin to put a death grip on the championships? Hope to see you then to find out!