Max Verstappen wins the Azerbaijan Grand Prix: 'A really good day for us'

Published on 12 June 2022 by Kees-Jan Koster

Max Verstappen won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix dominantly. Max started from third position on the grid in the streets of Baku. During the first phase of the race, he stayed in that position, until he overtook his teammate Sergio Perez after his first pitstop. Verstappen benefitted from the retirement of race leader Charles Leclerc, who had to park his smoking Ferrari in the pits in lap 20. From then on, the victory was not threatened, and Max won his fifth Grand Prix this season. Perez completed the party for Red Bull Racing by finishing second. George Russell completed the podium for Mercedes.

After the race, a satisfied Verstappen says: “We had an incredible pace in the car. We had a good start, unfortunately I could not go anywhere. I tried to overtake Charles, but they just had too much top speed for me to attack. I could look after the tyres and pass Checo for the lead. With the pace we had today, I would have been able to close the gap to Charles, but then it is always a question if you can overtake. We were a tiny bit lucky with the retirement of Charles, but overall, really happy with the balance of the car and the good speed. To have a one-two as a team, a really good day for us.”

Where the reliability at Red Bull at the beginning of the season left something to be desired, this now seems to be Ferrari’s Achilles’ heel. Nevertheless, Verstappen is watchful of the reliability of the RB18: “We have been there, and we must be vigilant for it not to go wrong again. You see immediately how big the gap in the championship then gets, but it can quickly turn of course. We must continue to focus on finishing races without issues.”

Despite the victory in Azerbaijan, Verstappen knows that the team cannot rest on its laurels with the upcoming race in Canada: “Every weekend is a bit different. We must be precise and continue to pay attention to every little detail regarding managing a race. Every Grand Prix it can change again.”

Under a shining sun and an outside temperature of 26 degrees Celsius, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix gets underway. All cars in the top ten are on the medium compound tyres. Max has a good start from third on the grid, but because of the short run to the first corner he cannot win any positions. Teammate Perez, who started from second position, also has a great start and he overtakes polesitter Leclerc on the inside of turn one. Behind these three are Carlos Sainz in fourth position and George Russel in P5. The whole field gets through the first lap without issues.

During the first couple of laps Verstappen can stay close to Leclerc in front of him, but every time he just comes short of trying to overtake the Ferrari driver. Behind him is Carlos Sainz in P4. The Spaniard goes straight on in turn four because of a braking issue and is the first to retire from the race. There is a short period with the Virtual Safety Car, and Leclerc makes a pitstop to change to the hard tyre. Because of the stop from Leclerc, Verstappen moves up into second position. When the field is released, Verstappen is two seconds behind teammate Perez and twelve seconds ahead of Leclerc.

Max closes in rapidly on race leader Perez and overtakes him in lap fifteen with DRS in turn one. Behind them Leclerc is coming closer to the Red Bulls on new hard tyres. Perez decides to make his pitstop in lap seventeen and changes to the hard compound tyres. After a slow stop he comes back out just in front of George Russell. Verstappen makes his pitstop in lap nineteen and also changes to the hard tyres. Verstappen comes back out on track in second position, more than thirteen seconds behind Leclerc.

However, one lap later Leclerc must park his smoking Ferrari in the pits and the Monegasque must retire his car. Now both Ferraris are out of the race. With Leclerc out of the race, Verstappen takes the lead, more than five seconds ahead of his teammate Perez, and Russel eight seconds behind him in P3.

Zhou Guanyu is in lap 24 the third to retire from the race, when he must park his Alpha Romeo in the pits with technical issues. Without any pressure from Leclerc, Max increases his lead to Perez more and more. Kevin Magnussen must retire his car in lap 33, the fourth DNF for a Ferrari powered car. A Virtual Safety Car phase follows, giving Verstappen the opportunity to make a second pitstop. He changes to a new set of hard tyres and stays in the lead. Verstappen is thirteen seconds ahead of Perez when the field is released and 35 seconds ahead of Russell in the Mercedes.

In the final phase of the race the victory for Verstappen is unthreatened and with a lead of 20 seconds on his teammate Perez wins Verstappen his fifth race of the season and the 25th race in his Formula 1 career. Perez finishes in second position and takes the point for the fastest lap. He moves up to P2 in the championship, 21 points behind Verstappen. With this third one-two of the season, Red Bull Racing is well on top in the constructor’s championship, with no less than 80 points ahead of Ferrari.

Well behind both Red Bulls finishes Russell in third position, his third podium of the season. Lewis Hamilton finished fourth, with Pierre Gasly and Sebastian Vettel scoring their best finishes of the season in P5 and P6. Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo, Lando Norris and Esteban Ocon complete the top ten.

Results Grand Prix Azerbaijan: