#1065 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

The 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2022) is the eighth round of the 2022 Formula One World Championship at the Baku City Circuit in Baku on 12 June 2022. In the Drivers' Championship, Max Verstappen leads with 125 points, nine points ahead of Charles Leclerc in second, and fifteen points ahead of Sergio Pérez in third position. Red Bull Racing leads Ferrari by 36 points, and Mercedes by 101 points in the Constructors' World Championship. The Mexican driver of Red Bull Racing, Sergio Pérez, winner of the previous Monaco Grand Prix and the past edition of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, renews his contract with the Austrian team until the end of the 2024 season. Pérez joined Red Bull before the 2021 season, after replacing Alexander Albon. The Mexican was brought in from the former Racing Point, now Aston Martin, which had chosen not to renew his contract, opting instead to focus on the four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. In his first season at Milton Keynes, Pérez, after a difficult adaptation, greatly contributed - especially in the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi - to his teammate Max Verstappen’s World Championship title. However, it is in the start of 2022 that Pérez makes the final leap in quality, securing a pole position, a victory, and four podiums in the first seven Grand Prix. These numbers place him currently in third position in the Drivers' World Championship, 15 points behind Verstappen. With this renewal, Red Bull confirms its main lineup for the next two seasons. Verstappen has also recently renewed his contract with the Austrian team until the end of 2028. Peter Bayer, General Secretary for Motorsport, in office since 2017, leaves the Federation. Bayer, who also became the Executive Director of Formula 1 in 2021, is replaced temporarily by Shaila-Ann Rao, who has just returned to the world body after a three-and-a-half-year stint at Mercedes alongside the team principal of the German team, Toto Wolff. 

Among Bayer’s final duties within the Federation was the supervision of the investigation into the actions of the former race director, Australian Michael Masi, during the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The investigation, while confirming the race result, led to Masi being removed from his role as race director, replaced by the German Niels Wittich and the Portuguese Eduardo Freitas, both of whom had previously served as race directors in the DTM and the World Endurance Championship, respectively. On the eve of the Grand Prix, the race director appointed by the Federation for this event, the German Niels Wittich, clarifies the procedure according to the updated 2022 regulations, stating that the pit lane entry and exit line can be touched by the tires, but not completely crossed, or a penalty will be applied. At the end of the previous Monaco Grand Prix, Ferrari presented a protest to the Federation against the two Red Bull Racing drivers. According to the Italian team, Dutchman Max Verstappen, who finished third, and Mexican Sergio Pérez, the winner, had crossed the yellow line that marks the exit of the pit lane after a pit stop, not remaining to the right of it as per the regulations. The protest against the two Red Bull Racing drivers was subsequently dismissed, as neither had fully crossed the yellow line and the procedure to follow was deemed outdated in the race director's notes for the event, not updated to the current World Championship rules. Mercedes, after the first extremely uphill races of the championship, seems to be slowly regaining pace. Thanks also, and above all, to the indisputable talent of the two drivers: Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. A few hours before the start of free practice, Toto Wolff declares:

“We head to Baku refreshed after a hectic Monaco weekend full of red flags, delays and changeable weather. We scored solid points, but more was possible over the weekend, and we need to be maximizing every opportunity we can to stay in the fight. As in Barcelona, the slow-speed corners of Monaco presented the W13 a tough challenge but also provided us with valuable learning. With another street circuit in Baku up next, the team has been working flat-out to analyze those two races and identify the areas we can innovate to push us forward. Baku often produces some fun and crazy track action, and the layout generates good racing opportunities. So, let's see if it lives up to its reputation this weekend".

Finally, in Ferrari, Nicola Bariselli, Power Unit Track Operations Manager, devotes himself to a brief analysis to the microphones of the journalists. Several topics addressed by Bariselli, including an accurate comment on the Baku circuit:

"Baku is a street circuit but unlike any other. It is definitely atypical because in addition to the expected 90 degree corners, it also has a very low speed section, as well as particularly long straights. In fact this track has one of the longest straights of the season. It is demanding for the drivers, but Carlos, and Charles in particular, both like racing here. the nature of the circuit means the power unit has to be versatile. The driver wants it to be nicely driveable in the tight and slow sections without however wasting energy, as it's essential to be able to deploy it down the long straights. Outright power is also essential, especially when it comes to acceleration out of the many low speed corners, when going for a quick lap in qualifying as well as during the race".

The circuit of Baku is located below the sea level and this, depending on the currents, can lead to a particularly windy climate. Given the sensitivity of the current single-seaters, the wind is certainly one of the elements that can have a big impact on the performance, making the race potentially unpredictable. In this regard, Bariselli declares:

"The ambient conditions have a significant effect on optimizing the car-power unit package. The changes in intensity and direction of the wind in particular can produce different operating conditions in terms of speed through the corners, which therefore impact torque and gear ratio settings and time spent on the straight. It's clear that a tailwind or headwind down the last straight can have an effect of several tenths of a second".

On Friday, June 10, 2022, as Ferrari Is going to seek revenge after a disappointing weekend in Monaco and especially for Leclerc, who was deprived of a probable win by a poor strategy from the Maranello pit wall. As Red Bull will try to consolidate their leadership in both championships, as both drivers are equipped with a new power unit, while Mercedes AMG will continue to work to solve the already known problems of the W13, which will heavily put to the test on the demanding Azerbaijani circuit, while defending for strong midfield teams like McLaren and Alpha Tauri who will be in search for good results. Special livery, instead, for Alfa Romeo Orlen who celebrates the launch of the Tonale SUV. For the first free practice session drivers are welcomed by a beautiful sunny day: 26 °C air temperature, 44 °C on the track. However, strong and unpredictable winds will be an issue for the drivers in their first attempt to get acquainted with Baku City Circuit. The first drivers to experience mechanical issues are Haas’s Mick Schumacher and Williams’s Nicholas Latifi: the German’s car leaks fluids along the track and is forced to stop, exactly like the Canadian, who however sees smoke coming out the back of his FW44, probably because of a problem with its Mercedes power unit. Apart from the mechanical failures, several drivers commit driving mistakes, including defending world champion Max Verstappen, who spins at turn 15. 

Others like Leclerc and Vettel complain about traffic, while the crazy bouncing caused by porpoising is unanimously recognized as one of the main challenges of the weekend and is particularly evident for Ferrari and Mercedes, although they are in very different situations in terms of general performance. In fact, the car built by the Maranello-based manufacturer has the best splits in the middle sector, while the fast Red Bull holds the record in the other two. And it is Sergio Pérez, who celebrated here his first win with the team from Milton Keynes one year ago, the fastest man of FP1, with a time of 1'45"476. His teammate his third, as the Bulls are separated by Charles Leclerc, with a gap of 0.127s from the leader. Fourth is his teammate Sainz, as Alonso brings his Alpine to a brilliant top five, 1.095s behind. All the drivers in the top ten have set their times with soft tyres and have had to deal with the problem of porpoising, except maybe Verstappen and Pérez, who can benefit from the RB18’s great aerodynamic efficiency. The Anglo-Austrian team, however, is conducting studies on how to solve their DRS problems: after a frustrating race in Spain for Verstappen, here Red Bull is experiencing abnormal vibrations on the movable flap. FP2 starts practically with same conditions of FP1, as the wind sends on the track some items of waste that get stuck in the suspensions and brake intakes of the cars. Again, the drivers have some problems finding the limit, as many lock up or clip the walls, with Alex Albon having the worst outcome of one of these incidents, as the Thai driver damages his front-right suspension after a hit at turn 17.

Hamilton continues his struggle against porpoising and complains about back pains on the radio with his engineer. The seven-time world champion seems to suffer the most from the bouncing, even though its effect is evident also on other cars. Despite a huge lock up at turn 7, it is Charles Leclerc who sets the fastest time in the second free practice session with a 1'43"224 (soft tyres). A satisfied Monegasque talks about a Friday that has witnessed him closing it as the leader of the classification:

"We had a solid first day. The progression we made from FP1 to FP2 was good and we worked well as a team. The lap times are not representative, because no one put a proper lap together in the second session. There is still quite a bit of room for improvement. Our race pace looked quite strong and I felt good in the car. In terms of tyres, I felt comfortable on the long run and didn't have any graining, which is another positive".

Pérez confirms his great shape with second place, followed by his teammate Max Verstappen, as Red Bull Racing seems to have partially solved its rear wing problems: the movable flap of the DRS moves much less in its open position. However, there is still more work to be done according to the Mexican, even though he can count on solid basis for his set-up:

"It was a good start to the day but the second session didn’t go as well as we would have liked. We explored some things this afternoon and the results we wanted didn’t come but we have collected good data with both tyres, as well as on the long runs. There is a lot to look over this evening and go through to hook it up for qualifying tomorrow. Initially the long run data looks good for the race but there are a lot of details we need to look into more. I feel confident around this circuit, as always with the braking you will make some mistakes here and there so I will keep my head down and focus on eradicating that".

Pérez is echoed by his teammate Max Verstappen, who is yet to complete a flying lap for his simulation of qualifying:

"Overall it was not a bad day, we look quite decent, we just need to fine tune a few things. I was a bit unlucky with my soft tyre runs in FP1 and FP2, there were a few yellow flags so I had to back out. It seems like Ferrari is quite quick over one lap again, the long runs look a bit more even so that’s positive. The tyres seem to be working well after one lap which is good for a street circuit. We tried to fix the DRS after FP1, it seemed to be alright in FP2. My long runs went well, I did a grand total of three laps [laughs]. We should have enough info now to know how to play it with tyres this weekend".

Carlos Sainz Jr. closes the top five with a gap of 1.050s from his teammate, as the Spaniard is the only one on the medium compound. He has experienced some more issues than his teammate but stays positive:

"It’s been an interesting Friday, as always here in Baku. There were quite a few challenges during FP1 and I was struggling a bit too much with the bottoming and the bouncing, which made the session quite uncomfortable. We worked in the right direction for FP2, improving competitiveness and feeling. Overall, it was a smooth second session despite not being able to close an entire flying lap on the Softs due to yellow flags. We look forward to making another step forward tomorrow and having a clean qualifying".

For the seven-time World Champion, the situation is critical, and Mercedes is struggling to find a solution. Hamilton does not hide his frustration:

"The hardest thing about today was the bouncing, we're hitting serious speeds at the end of the straight and bottoming out. We're facing the same problems as in the last race. We tried something experimental on my car in the second session, it didn't feel great but at least we tried it and we got some useful data to go through. We'll probably revert to the original set up tomorrow. I can't tell you one specific area which is costing us the 1.3 or 1.6 secs difference to the front, a lot of it seems to be on the straight but we need to get our heads down tonight and find solutions".

George Russell agrees with his teammate, but reckons the phenomenon should be extended to all the teams, because even though they have shown a good performance, they have not been able to avoid the bouncing, given the track surface and the set-up that is required to race on it:

"It was a tricky day and clearly we weren't as competitive as we'd have liked to be. It's a tough track to get the tyres switched on and in the right window. You saw a number of other drivers set their fastest times right at the end of a run, whereas Ferrari and Red Bull seem able to just turn it on. At the moment, they have an inherently quicker car than us and we're doing everything we can to catch up. Even if we get on top of the tyres, that's only 50% of the problem, the other 50% is just car performance. Now with the cars are running so close to the ground, in the high speed corners the cars are fully bottoming out and it's the same for everybody, it's really not comfortable to drive. I don't know what the future holds for this era of cars but I can't see us running like this for the next four years so for all of us, conversations will be needed as we're all in the same boat".

On Saturday's free practice begins with a 15-minute delay due to the need to repair the barriers at Turn 1, damaged in a Formula 2 race incident. Pérez is the fastest, with a time just 70 thousandths of a second quicker than Leclerc. The dominance of Red Bull and Ferrari is confirmed by Verstappen in third, who doesn't find a clear track in his fastest attempt, and Sainz Jr. in fourth. Behind the top four are the two McLarens, with Norris over a second slower than Pérez, followed by Pierre Gasly. Mercedes are still struggling, suffering from heavy bouncing. The delay in the start of the third free practice session on Saturday leads to a 15-minute postponement of the qualifying session. Lando Norris sets the first time, immediately beaten by Esteban Ocon in 1'44"297. Sergio Pérez lowers the limit to 1'43"198, which is later further improved by Max Verstappen, who goes below 1'43. Charles Leclerc places himself two-tenths behind Verstappen, while Carlos Sainz Jr. is further behind, by nine-tenths. The two Mercedes manage to enter the top ten, with Russell in fourth. Sainz improves, bringing his time to just 0"021 behind Verstappen, before Leclerc takes the lead with a time of 1'42"865. Zhou Guanyu is fifth, benefiting from the slipstream of another car, while Sebastian Vettel makes a small mistake. The two Red Bulls, with their second attempts, return to the top two positions in the rankings. Lance Stroll crashes into the barriers in the second sector, but without damaging his car. 

Sebastian Vettel drops to fifth just before the session is interrupted due to another Stroll incident, where he hits the barriers more violently, damaging the front wing. The session resumes with two and a half minutes remaining. All drivers, except the top five and Ocon, return to the track. A bit of a scramble ensues as drivers try to complete their outlaps before the checkered flag. Hamilton and Russell improve, as do the AlphaTauri duo. Bottas moves up to fifteenth, qualifying for Q2. Alonso runs wide at Turn 15, ending up in the escape road. In a radio conversation with his pit wall, Alexander Albon accuses the Spaniard of deliberately driving slowly on his outlap to penalize the drivers behind him. The two Haas drivers, the two Williams drivers, and Stroll do not make it through to the next session. The first to go out in the second phase are the Red Bull drivers. Verstappen beats Pérez by a few thousandths. Gasly moves up to third, ahead of George Russell. The times of the Austrian team drivers are beaten by Sainz Jr. (1'42"088) and Leclerc, who is less than a tenth behind his teammate. Vettel hits a wall at Turn 15, but it only leads to yellow flags being waved. Pérez takes the lead again (1'41"955), followed by Leclerc, with Sainz Jr. in third.

The two Alfa Romeo drivers go out late, but are far from a possible qualification for the final phase. Hamilton is under investigation by the stewards for driving too slowly on his outlap. The British driver climbs to sixth, with Russell in eighth. In the final attempt, Gasly decides to lift off, as does Norris. Daniel Ricciardo does not make it through to Q3. In addition to the two McLaren drivers, neither the Alfa Romeo drivers nor Ocon qualify for the final session. Gasly sets the reference time in Q3 at 1'42"845. The Frenchman is ahead of the Mercedes duo by one and a half tenths, respectively. Shortly after, Carlos Sainz Jr. takes the lead with 1'41"814, ahead of Leclerc (1'41"861). The two Red Bull Racing drivers close the gap to the Ferrari drivers' times, but are unable to beat them. Pérez is third, while Verstappen is fourth. The drivers from these two teams are separated by less than two-tenths. In the second attempt, Sainz Jr. doesn't improve in the first sector, while Leclerc beats his teammate's time (1'41"359). Verstappen moves up to second, before Pérez beats his own time, but not Leclerc's. Russell and Gasly secure the third row, ahead of Hamilton and Tsunoda, followed by Vettel and Alonso. Charles Leclerc secures his fifteenth career pole position, the fourth consecutive pole of the season, surpassing Verstappen's 14 pole positions. Charles Leclerc gets off his car and goes to greet his team and goes to give five to Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Sergio Perez:

"Taking pole position always feels good, but this one is particularly satisfying as I wasn’t expecting it. Our competitors looked stronger than us, especially in Q1 and Q2. On my last run in Q3, everything came together. I don’t think I left much on the table and I am very happy with my lap. I really look forward to the race. I love street tracks and it’s very special to push to the limit with the walls. Tyre management will be key. It’s an element we have managed well in the past two races, so I am optimistic and just want to finish the job".

Carlos Sainz Jr. felt more comfortable in the car today: He underlines as starting from the first line is not crucial in this circuit because everything can happen here:

"It was quite a positive day on my side despite the final result. I felt better in the car and more comfortable when pushing the limits. We progressed well through the sessions and I found myself quickest before the last run. It was extremely close at the top and I knew I had to take that extra bit of risk on the last attempt. Sometimes it goes well and sometimes, like today, you miss out on a better result. Unlike other circuits, the starting position is not that critical here in Baku and anything can happen tomorrow. We’ll try to attack and gain positions during the race to bring home a strong result. The team gave us a great car again today so congrats to everyone and to Charles".

Laurent Mekies, the Scuderia Ferrari Racing Director, says that it was a very closely contested qualifying:

"It was a very closely contested qualifying. We’re now getting used to Charles producing an incredible lap in Q3 and today, on his last run, we saw once again how he can always get a little something extra out of himself and his car. Carlos also had a very good qualifying and in fact after the first run in Q3 he was quickest. At all tracks, it’s important to always be able to count on having both drivers at the front and here, we can expect a very tactical race, so having Carlos right up there with the Red Bulls means we can fight them on equal terms. Now, we are preparing for the race, along with our colleagues back in Maranello. We know that, in race trim, our closest rivals are quicker than in qualifying and maybe they have the edge over us when it comes to straight line speed. However, given what we have seen so far this weekend, I think the smallest detail can make the difference in the race, with many factors coming into play. The first of these is tyre management and as we can expect very hot conditions, race pace will be key".

At the end of the first day of testing, Sergio Perez is not completely satisfied with today’s result:

"We were on the limit at times, chasing the lap time massively to try and improve but unfortunately we didn’t manage to make the most out of it. We had a little issue with the refueling on my car in Q3, which meant we were out of sequence for our final lap but I still think that three tenths was probably too much to find to close the gap to Ferrari. I am still on the front row and it is a long race ahead where anything can happen, especially here. We have both cars in between the Ferraris which is a good thing. Tomorrow we are going to work as a Team to try and get Ferrari and it would be ideal to get a one-two - we are going to push them hard".

Max Verstappen is disappointed with the car’s balance in this difficult street circuit, which meant for him a lack of consistency in the way he approached the lap:

"You always take quite a lot of risk and push the car to the limit on a street circuit, but you also have to be happy with the balance of the car and I didn’t have that today. It was difficult to find a good balance here, which means we’re lacking consistency in how you approach your lap. There’s still quite a bit of work to do. Looking ahead to tomorrow, the run into turn one is very short but it’s a long race, let’s see what we can do. Ferrari put in some really quick laps and it looks like they have a good pace, let’s hope we can put some good pressure on them. Past races in Baku have shown that a lot of things can happen, we just need to stay calm and focus on having a good race tomorrow".

The Red Bull Racing Team Principal, Christian Horner, recognizes that:

"It’s always tricky to navigate through the sessions here with plenty of incidents and yellow flags, but both drivers extracted every last bit out of the car in their Q3 runs. Checo had a small issue whilst refuelling before Q3 that caused him to be slightly out of sequence but again, a very strong, clean lap from him to put him second on the grid, with Max incredibly close behind. Ferrari had a slight advantage over a single lap but we’re right up there in second and third on a track you can overtake on, so it should be an exciting race tomorrow".

George Russell is satisfied with his session. He recognizes that they have a lot to work on since Baku is a tricky circuit. On his performance, he says:

"It was an optimised session but being over a second from pole is not where we want to be, it's probably the biggest gap we've seen this year. It's a tricky circuit, the most amount of 'real' corners we've experienced this season, so we have lots of work to do. The lap felt good, the car felt good but obviously the gap isn't. We expect so much from ourselves and we're working so hard to bring more performance, but definitely this weekend has brought out the strengths and the weaknesses from all of us. The feeling inside the car is okay other than down the straights, every single bump is the most rigid I have ever felt from any race car before and I can barely see the braking zone. But through the corners the car feels good, so we know it's not a balance thing or not getting the car in the right window with the set up - it's more the downforce. We're balancing a lot of limitations to try and get the downforce. We know there's a lot there, but we just don't know how to extract it".

After optimistically forecasting that tomorrow, the Mercedes' Team Principal Toto Wolff could win only if the four of them ahead come together in turn 1, and says that tomorrow it will about the pure pace, so it's realistic to finish fifth and sixth for them:

"I think the most we expected today was to be third-quickest on the road, but Gasly put in a really strong lap to get between us. There's no doubt - the gap to the front is big. It's a long lap time here and we're lacking pretty much everywhere. I wish I didn't need to look at these kinds of performance overlays in future with the guys up front".

So he adds:

For tomorrow, if you look at it through rose-tinted glasses you can see hopefully the four of them ahead come together in turn 1 and then we can win the race. But I think on pure pace, it's realistic to finish fifth and sixth. Strategy can play a big role, you can recover and make up positions if you are on the right strategy. We can gamble given the position we are in because when you're the hunter it's a different situation, so we'll be looking at all options for the race".

Lewis Hamilton looks at tomorrow’s race. For him, the session was difficult because he continued to push:

"There's lots to look forward to tomorrow! It's a tricky and chaotic race with lots that can happen. It was a difficult qualifying session because we're constantly pushing. We have a very, very small window where we can work this car, and everything we try doesn't give us what we want. We're making lots of changes, but we still encounter the bouncing which loses us a lot of performance. All of the performance is when you get the car low so we're getting lower and lower but it's bouncing more than the other cars and putting pressure on our bodies. But we're still there! We're just very slow on the straights, which might be a struggle tomorrow in the race. We're going to give it everything and maybe we'll have, I hope, better race pace. I don't really have any concerns with the stewards. Firstly, I was off-line, and you have to be within a delta time and I was within my delta time. Within that delta time I should be able to drive the speed I want, and being off-line I wasn't holding anyone up. I was trying to get a tow because we're so slow on the straights and the guys behind didn't want to go by, so then I just went off and did my lap".

All the teams are well aware that in Baku Grand Prix everything can happen and nothing is totally sure. Indeed, the circuit is full of potential opportunities to exploit but also pitfalls. The yellow flag and Safety Cars are likely even in good weather conditions because of the circuit’s characteristics. The teams know that tomorrow’s results are far from being decided yet. On Sunday, June 12, 2022, takes place the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, eighth round of the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship. Charles Leclerc starts from the pole for the fourth straight race, followed by Sergio Perez in second position, and Max Verstappen. The other Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz Jr., is fourth. In fifth position there is George Russell, and Pierre Gasly. All the drivers start on medium compounds, except for Zhou Guanyu, Kevin Magnussen and Alex Albon, who are on yellow tyres. When the lights go out, Sergio Perez makes a really good start, taking the first position off Charles Leclerc, who locks up going into the first turn. So, Saturday's poleman is now running between the two Red Bulls, with Verstappen followed by Sainz. On Lap 5, Perez has a two-seconds lead on the Ferrari, while Verstappen is trying to steal the second place from Leclerc, stalking him through the narrow castle section. 

Sebastian Vettel is now in eighth position, while Albon moves up to the fifteenth place, even if then he loses a place to Magnussen. Instead, Nicholas Latifi gets a 10-second stop-go penalty after his mechanic touched his car after the 15-second start procedure warning. Now, Leclerc has to defend his position from Max Verstappen, while on Lap 9, a Virtual Safety Car is enabled as Sainz stops at Turn 4 due to hydraulic issues. Under the VSC, Leclerc pits for hard tyres: the pit stop is slow and he emerges in third position over 10 seconds behind Verstappen. Russell, in fourth position, takes the opportunity to pit, and Pierre Gasly does the same. Red Bull put into place a different strategy, and, when the Virtual Safety Car leaves the track, Perez is still at the lead. On lap 11, Leclerc has a 12-second gap from Verstappen, while Perez has the reigning world champion two seconds behind. At the end of lap 14, Verstappen, with DRS, easily overtakes his teammate down the inside of Turn 1. At the same time, Leclerc is just eight seconds behind Perez. On lpa 16, the Mexican driver pits to switch to hard compounds. This 5.7 seconds stop has repercussions on his race as he emerges third, 18 seconds behind the leader and team mate Verstappen. Two trains are created in the midfield, both lead by Alpine. 

The first is led by Fernando Alonso, from the fifth position, followed by the two McLarens of Norris and Ricciardo, and Pierre Gasly. The second train is led by Esteban Ocon, who is ninth, and is made up by Lewis Hamilton and other drivers. Shortly after, Ocon is passed by Hamilton down the inside of Turn 3, while Alonso’s pit allows the McLarens  pass, while the Spanish driver emerges sixteenth. Ricciardo starts to attack Norris for the fifth position. On lap 18, Verstappen pits to switch to hard compounds and emerges second with a 13.5-second detachment from Leclerc, who is now the leader of the Grand Prix.

"Problem, problem, engine".

Says suddenly the Monegasque diver on his Team Radio, while smoke comes out from the Ferrari number 16; Leclerc is forced to get back into the pits and this is the second retirement for the Scuderia. It is also the second time in three races in which the Monegasque driver retires from the lead. Verstappen now has a five-second lead over team mate Perez, while in third place there is Russell. Gasly has a good pace on his AlphaTauri, and takes the fourth position off Ricciardo on lap 21. Yuki Tsunoda, who also pitted during the VSC, passes Ocon and takes the seventh position. Hamilton puts pressure on Ricciardo and manages to pass him for the fifth position on lap 27 at Turn 3. Gasly, in fourth place, is just 3.6 seconds ahead, but porpoising begins to create problems for the seven-time champion. Kevin Magnussen’s Haas, which is another Ferrari-powered car, retires on lap 33, bringing out another Virtual Safety Car. Verstappen, Perez and Russell pit again, while Ricciardo and Ocon do it for the first time, having begun on hard compounds. Hamilton pits for another set of hards to emerge sixth behind the two Alpha Tauris. Hamilton manages to pass Tsunoda out of Turn 16, while the Japanese driver seems to have a DRS issue, and starts lap 36 in fifth position. Tsunoda is soon forced to pit to fix his rear wing: the mechanics tap down the wing and tell him not to use DRS anymore. Verstappen is told to control his pace up front given the Ferrari retirements and not to use DRS. Hamilton tries to pass Gasly on lap 43,  while the Frenchman is told on the radio not to lose points for the team. Going into Turn 3, Gasly lost the fourth position to Hamilton. From this moment, the top five remain unchanged, with Verstappen who takes his fifth win of the season with more than 20 seconds of detachment from Perez. Russell takes the final podium place for Mercedes. 

Behind Gasly there is Vettel, who pitted during the first Virtual Safety Car and did a mistake immediately after, going off at Turn 3; he ends sixth. Alonso ran 18 laps on his starting set of mediums, so his was a one-stop strategy which made him end seventh. Ricciardo ends eighth, taking advantage from a stop during the lap 33 Virtual Safety Car. He finishes ahead of team mate Norris, who began on mediums and pitted on lap 21, with a different strategy from the Australian driver. Esteban Ocon did the same strategy of Ricciardo and takes the final point after having started thirteenth. Bad race for Alfa Romeo: Valtteri Bottas did not gain points this time, while Zhou Guanyu was forced to retire. Was the third DNF for him in four Grands Prix. Alex Albon take the twelfth position; he pitted during the first VSC and finished ahead of Tsunoda, who tried different times to take the twelfth position off the Williams with a late swap to soft tyres when he was called in to fix the DRS issue. Mick Schumacher ends ahead of Nicholas Latifi, who is last also because of the 10-second stop-go penalty for his mechanic touching his car after the 15-second warning on the grid, and a subsequent five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags during the lap 43. Great race for Red Bull, which ended with another 1-2 in this season. Sergio Perez managed to pass Leclerc at the start ad led the race during the early stages. But when the Monegasque driver pitted, there was a battleamong the two RB’s men.even if he did not win, he managed to get the bonus point for the fastest lap:

"I started really well, we were leading and felt we had things under control. We were a little unlucky with the timing of the VSC which made things a bit more difficult for us. When you are leading the race for the first stint, which is normally the harder one, then you think you are looking strong but that wasn’t to be the case today and that is racing. I got some bad degradation on my rear tyres, which meant I couldn’t keep Max behind, he was extremely fast and it made sense for him to pass me rather than fight it. We were told to keep certain pace on the hards once both Ferraris were out of the race and we managed the rest of it well".

So he concludes:

"We have to understand where we could have got more out of the car today and go forward to Canada and make sure we are in contention once again. Today was a great result for the Team and a good day in the Constructors’ Championship".

Max Verstappen had a better pace than his team mate and gained the fifth victory of the season, which made him the leader of the drivers’ championship:

"Today we had incredible pace in the car, we could really look after the tyres and we could chip away for the lead. Checo did a good job at the start getting ahead of Charles, I got blocked in and couldn’t go anywhere. Once I was on the hard tyres and in the lead and I could just manage it and could control the gap. It would have been good to have had a battle with Charles today but he had a DNF. To get a 1-2 for the Team was really good, we’ve scored some good points today and made the gap bigger to Ferrari. There’s still a long way to go, it’s a long season so we need to keep pushing as a Team".

Christian Horner, thanks the team, able to capitalise on the events within the race:

"It’s a fantastic result for us today on a track that never fails to deliver the unexpected. I think it’s a shame that the fans didn’t get to see how the strategy would have played out today, Ferrari stopped very early under that virtual safety car, and with us going onto the hard tyre that much later, I think that would have given us the advantage towards the end of the race. But we managed to capitalise on the events within the race with both drivers driving fantastically. We asked them to race each other cleanly and fairly and that’s what they did. They’re doing a great job for the Team and we’re very proud of what the whole team has achieved today".

It was a terrible day for Ferrari, with both cars retiring from the race. Sainz Jr. was the first, on lap 9, becase of an hydraulic issue:

"Today's result is hard to accept. After the start we opened the gap to manage the tyres and try to extend the first stint longer into the race. Unfortunately, a hydraulic problem occurred on lap 9 and that was it. Together with Charles’ issue, this is definitely a difficult day for the entire team and our fans, as we lost valuable points and mileage. For one reason or another, it’s been complicated to build a strong momentum so far this season. However, we are a very strong team and I have absolutely no doubt we have the ability and determination to come back stronger. There is still a long way to go this year. On to Canada".

Charles Leclerc ran second in the early stages, and then pitted under the Virtual Safety Car, emerging third. He was forcedto retire due to problems in the Power Unit, so he gained no points in the championship:

"It’s a disappointing outcome for us today. At the beginning of the first stint on the Mediums we weren’t particularly strong, but towards the end of it, we started catching Checo. During the Virtual Safety Car, we decided to take the opportunity and pit for Hards, which was the right thing to do. It put us in a position where we could lead the race and what we had to focus on from then on was managing the tyres to the end. We then had an issue with the power unit and had to retire. It’s time to go home and reset before Canada. We have to get on top of things and come back stronger there".

Mattia Binotto states that, even if the team made progress this year, there is steel need of improve the cars’ reliability:

"This is undoubtedly a bad day. Compared to last year, we have made great progress in terms of performance, however there is definitely still room for improvement on the reliability front. In a week’s time we will be in Canada where we will aim to make up for this. Before then, we will analyse the failures we experienced here and will try to manage them until we can get on top of them. There is definitely still work to do".

As for Mercedes, Russell had a good day: he gained two places thanks to the Ferraris’ DNF, and went on to gain the third place:

"We were smashing the ground every single corner and every lap for 90 mins, it was pretty brutal - I'll sleep well tonight! It's what we've got to deal with it at the moment, there's not much we can do in the short-term. There's lots of intelligent people, hugely talented engineers in the sport so I'm sure we'll find a solution. We didn't get the podium on pure pace today but we did it because the team have worked very hard to deliver a reliable car, we did a good job to be ahead of the midfield and obviously we picked up on Ferrari's. As a team, we take that as a positive and kudos to everyone at Brackley and Brixworth on all the hard work. We know we aren't quick enough and we've got a long way to go to bring performance. We're experimenting and trying things, one week turnaround to Montreal will be tough to find the solution but hopefully we'll get there soon".

Lewis Hamilton worked hard for the fourth place. He made somegood overtakes, but after the race he was suffering a lot with back pain, because of the hard bouncing of his W13 on track:

"I just got through that race on adrenaline, biting down on my teeth through the pain. I can't express the pain that you experience, especially on the straight here. And at the end, you're just thinking of all the people relying on you for the points. But we're in such a good position still! Third and fourth is a great result for the team. The team did a great job with the strategy and once we've fixed this bouncing we're going to be right there in the race. We're losing over a second for sure just with bouncing, or at least a second. I'll be at the factory tomorrow, we've got have some good discussions and keep pushing".

Toto Wolff talks about this race and looks at the job the team has ahed to get back to the front:

"This is where we are at the moment - not as quick as the front runners but clear of the midfield. We never enjoy our rivals' misfortune, we want to see a strong fight at the front and we're hoping to catch up and join so there's six of us there fighting. A strong job from George today, he managed the race and took his podium well. We need to find a solution for the bouncing because the car we gave Lewis today was so tough to drive, you could see the pain in his back all weekend. After running on Friday, we knew we had big limitations with the car in Baku so it was a case of maximising our strategy, driving and our operations. The team did a great job on all three to ensure we were in the mix and ready to take advantage of any opportunity that came our way. Today, it paid off and we leave Baku with a good haul of points but we are under no illusion of the job we have ahead of us to get back to the front. There are no holy cows, everything is being looked at and we've got a great team trying to solve our issues".

Max Verstappen now leads the Drivers’ World Championship by 21 points over Sergio Perez, while Charles Leclerc is third. At he same time, Red Bull Racing has an 80-point lead over Ferrari in the Constructors’ World Championship. The Canadian Grand Prix returns next weekend for the first time since 2019, on June 17-19, as Ferrari aim to make up for a run of disappointing races and Red Bull Racing look to continue their winning run.