Verstappen tightens grip on championship lead as Ferrari endure Baku nightmare

Leclerc
had
claimed
his
fourth
successive
pole
position
at
the
street
circuit
in
Baku
but
was
passed
into
the
first
corner
by
Monaco
winner
Sergio
Perez.

Perez
struggled
to
press
home
his
advantage,
though,
and
eventually
ceded
the
lead
to
Verstappen
on
lap
15.

Leclerc
had
dived
into
the
pits
under
the
virtual
safety
car
after
his
Ferrari
team-mate
Carlos
Sainz
retired
due
to
a
hydraulics
issue
and
appeared
to
be
well-placed
to
challenge
Verstappen,
only
for
an
engine
failure
on
lap
20
to
hand
victory
to
his
Red
Bull
rival,
who
led
a
one-two
ahead
of
Perez
and
Mercedes’ George
Russell.

Ferrari’s
dismal
day
began
as
Perez
reacted
quicker
than
Leclerc
at
the
start
to
quickly
render
his
pole
immaterial
and
by
lap
nine
they
were
down
a
car
as
Sainz
was
forced
to
end
his
race.

The
Scuderia
responded
by
gambling
on
pitting
Leclerc
for
fresh
tyres
without
the
usual
time
loss
and
that
decision
appeared
to
be
paying
dividends,
a
potential
battle
with
Verstappen
looming
after
the
Dutchman
passed
Perez
on
lap
15,
the
Mexican
having
emerged
from
a
slow
stop
just
in
front
of
Russell.

Any
prospect
of
that
fight
was
removed
when
blue
smoke
puffed
out
of
the
back
of
Leclerc’s
Ferrari
on
lap
20,
hugely
damaging
his
title
prospects.

Further
blows
to
Ferrari
came
as
the
Alfa
Romeo
of
Zhou
Guanyu
and
Kevin
Magnussen’s
Haas,
both
powered
by
their
engines,
suffered
retirements.

Red
Bull,
by
contrast,
cruised
home
to
a
fifth
successive
win
and
a
second
one-two
in
three
races.
Russell
took
his
third
podium
ahead
of
team-mate
Lewis
Hamilton,
with
Pierre
Gasly
of
AlphaTauri
rounding
off
the
top
five.