Perfect day for Red Bull with Perez according to Leclerc embittered: “Zero reliability, I have no words”
BAKU (Azerbaigian)
When the strategy works, it is reliability that betrays Ferrari. Red Bull pocketed a perfect double at the end of the Azerbaijani Grand Prix, won by Max Verstappen in front of Sergio Perez. The flying Dutchman, already on the run in the drivers’ standings after the eighth race, did not need to overtake to the limit or face particular risks to take home his fifth win of the season, the first at the Baku circuit. And after the finish he also thanked “a little luck” for the breakdowns that have taken away the most dangerous opponents.
Carlos Sainz out on the ninth lap due to a hydraulic problem, Charles Leclerc on foot in the 20th, after a conspicuous white smoke from the engine. At that moment, the Monegasque was leading the race thanks to the choice of making the first pit stop during the virtual safety car due to Sainz’s knockout, mounting hard tires instead of the averages with which the top ten had started. Leclerc had thus returned to the leader, after being burned on the sprint by Perez at the start from pole. The Mexican was then overtaken by Verstappen on lap 15 and the world champion had a clear path to success. Now he has 150 points, +21 on the faithful squire Perez, but above all +34 on Leclerc. A double breakdown did not affect Ferrari since Australia 2009.
«Tomorrow we will analyze what happened and I will find the motivation, but it is a retirement that hurts a lot. Now I have no words … – Leclerc commented bitterly – In the last three races there were performances, but there was a lack of reliability. Another 25 important points lost », after those thrown by the mistake of strategy in Monaco and the retirement in Spain.
Instead, it was a good stage in the world championship for Mercedes. George Russell’s third place (although 46 “behind the winner) is the sign of a growing car, but Russell himself admitted that the hopping of the W13 put a strain on his physique. Not to mention Lewis Hamilton, who finished fourth among a thousand sufferings due to the exasperated ‘porpoising’. “My back is killing me,” the seven-time world champion complained during a radio team. He got out of his car, at the end of the race, with a lot of effort and visibly sore. –
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