F1 LIVE: Ferrari mistakes are costing Charles Leclerc the world championship, warns Martin Brundle
Follow all the latest reaction from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and build-up to the weekend’s race in Canada
Ferrari are costing Charles Leclerc’s world championship bid “heavily” as strategy errors and reliability failure continues to hold him back, says Martin Brundle.
Leclerc’s Ferrari engine gave out while he was in position to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the weekend, causing his second retirement in three races, while a mistake with his first pitstop probably cost him the race win on his home track of Monaco. The former F1 driver turned analyst Brundle believes Leclerc, who is now well down on championship leader Max Verstappen in the standings, could miss out on his first world title as a result. “Charles Leclerc must be beside himself,” Brundle told Sky Sports. “He could have had four glorious victories; he's sticking the car on pole position, driving beautifully and then this kind of thing is happening to him just way too much.”
Lewis Hamilton says he will race the Canadian Grand Prix despite injuring his back in Baku on Sunday. Hamilton finished fourth behind race winner Verstappen, fellow Red Bill driver Sergio Perez and Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate George Russell, but suffered back pain as his car bounced around the Azerbaijan street circuit, a result of F1’s troublesome ‘porpoising’ phenomenon this season. Asked if Hamilton’s was now a doubt for Canada, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff told reporters: “Yeah, definitely.” But Hamilton said on Instagram on Monday morning that he “wouldn’t miss it for the world”.
But it was a dream weekend for Red Bull as Verstappen increased his lead at the top of the drivers’ standings and Perez leapfrogged Leclerc into second. They now lead Ferrari in the constructors’ by 80 points. Follow all the latest fallout and reaction from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and build-up to Canada:
'Stay on it,' Verstappen tells Leclerc after Baku heartbreak
Max Verstappen spared no sympathy for Charles Leclerc after the Dutchman took advantage of a race-ending engine failure for his Ferrari Formula One rival to cruise to an unchallenged win in Azerbaijan on Sunday.
“I would say sh*t happens, that’s racing, you know?” Verstappen, who experienced the heartbreak of crashing out of the lead in Baku last year, told reporters.
“It happened to me, it happened to many people in the past and unfortunately it’s happening to Charles.
“If I would be in the same situation, I would also be disappointed, I think that’s very normal, but it’s about how you come out of it.”
Verstappen’s win on Sunday, his fifth from eight races this season, allowed him to open up a commanding lead in the overall standings.
He is now 21 points ahead of Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez, who completed a one-two behind Verstappen on Sunday, with Leclerc 34 points adrift having dropped to third.
The 24-year-old, who went into the weekend nine points behind Verstappen, has now failed to convert top spot into victory in the last four races in a row for reasons ranging from a lack of reliability to strategic missteps.
Sunday’s failure was the second time in three races that Leclerc had retired from the lead.
It came shortly after team mate Carlos Sainz had also stopped with a hydraulic failure, resulting in a double retirement for Ferrari.
Verstappen has himself been sidelined twice by reliability woes this year and trailed Leclerc by 46 points after the opening three races of the season.
“You learn from it, you don’t like it, you are angry, but you turn it around,” he said.
“You always have to stay on it because something else might happen and you have to prevent these issues from happening.”
Reuters
Team by team analysis of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
ALFA ROMEO (Valtteri Bottas 11, Guanyu Zhou retired)
Zhou was told to pit and retire on lap 24 with a technical issue on a bad day for engine supplier Ferrari. The Chinese has now had three retirements in his last four races. Bottas said it felt like something was fundamentally wrong with his car.
ALPHATAURI (Pierre Gasly 5, Yuki Tsunoda 13)
Gasly had a good battle with Hamilton but ultimately lost out. Tsunoda was called in by the team who patched up his rear wing with tape and sent him back out without any drag reduction system (DRS). Otherwise he might have been sixth. Both drivers pitted during the first VSC period.
HAAS (Mick Schumacher 14, Kevin Magnussen retired)
Magnussen retired with a power unit issue on lap 33 and had to park up on the track. Schumacher made two stops, on laps 10 and 24.
ASTON MARTIN (Sebastian Vettel 6, Lance Stroll 16)
Aston Martin pulled level with Haas on 15 points after taking the fourth highest tally of the day. Vettel was able to jump Hamilton thanks to a quick stop. The German might have been higher had he not gone into an escape road after passing Ocon. Stroll, who had power unit problem in Saturday qualifying, retired with the car vibrating excessively.
WILLIAMS (Alexander Albon 12, Nicholas Latifi 15)
Albon made two stops and was halted towards the end when the teams saw something in the data that caused concern. Latifi picked up an immediate penalty after overshooting his grid slot and being pushed back against the rules by a mechanic.
Team by team analysis of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
RED BULL (Max Verstappen 1, Sergio Perez 2)
Red Bulls’s fifth win in a row, and sixth in eight races, sent them 80 points clear of Ferrari. Verstappen started third with Perez second. The Mexican led into the first corner but suffered degradation to his rear tyres and was passed by Verstappen on lap 15, with the team telling them not to fight. Perez then had a long pitstop on lap 17, dropping behind Leclerc with Verstappen in two laps later. Leclerc’s retirement left the Red Bulls one-two. Verstappen leads Perez, now second overall, by 21 points. Perez got the bonus point for fastest lap.
FERRARI (Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz retired)
Leclerc lined up on pole for the sixth time this season, and fourth in a row, but lost out to Perez when he locked up at the start. The Monegasque switched from medium to hard tyres on lap nine when the virtual safety car was deployed but it was a long one. Sainz retired on lap nine with an hydraulics issue. Leclerc then stopped on lap 21 with a power unit problem while leading. Leclerc is now 34 points behind Verstappen.
MERCEDES (George Russell 3, Lewis Hamilton 4)
Russell took his third podium of the season. Both drivers pitted during the lap nine virtual safety car (VSC) and benefited from the retirement of the two Ferraris. A second VSC period and stop helped Hamilton pass Tsunoda and Gasly. Both suffered from excessive bouncing, with Hamilton in back pain as he stepped out of the car. Russell remains the only driver to have finished in the top five in every race.
MCLAREN (Daniel Ricciardo 8, Lando Norris 9)
Ricciardo started 12th and finished ahead of Norris on track for only the second time this season. The drivers were on different strategies and team orders were applied twice with the Australian quicker in the opening stint on the hard tyre but told to stay behind. Norris was faster later on but frustrated to be told to hold station behind Ricciardo, who had pitted during the second VSC.
ALPINE (Fernando Alonso 7, Esteban Ocon 10)
The Renault-owned team took back fifth place from Alfa Romeo. Alonso started 10th, Ocon 13th. The car performed well on the straights and the drivers benefited from Ferrari’s retirements. Alonso pitted for hards on lap 18 having stayed out during the VSC period. Ocon made his stop on lap 33.
Charles Leclerc demands Ferrari fix issues as Max Verstappen capitalises in Baku
A wounded Charles Leclerc has demanded Ferrari eliminate their reliability woes to prevent this season’s Formula One battle from becoming a one-horse race.
Max Verstappen extended his championship lead by driving unopposed to victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after Leclerc and team-mate Carlos Sainz failed to finish on a desperate afternoon for Ferrari in Baku.
Leclerc was bidding to avenge Ferrari’s flat-footed strategy in Monaco a fortnight ago which cost him victory at his home event.
But on lap 20 of 51, Leclerc’s engine expired and he retired from the lead. A power unit failure at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya last month means the Monegasque has now failed to finish in two of his last three appearances.
Leclerc led Verstappen by as many as 47 points after the third round in Australia – the scene of his last triumph – on April 10.
But, ahead of next weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – the ninth race of 22 this season – Leclerc trails the Dutchman by 34 points in the championship standings.
Charles Leclerc demands Ferrari fix issues as Max Verstappen capitalises in Baku
Leclerc fell 34 points behind the Dutchman in the championship standings.
F1 news: Lewis Hamilton a ‘doubt’ for Canada
Talking to Hamilton over team radio, Wolff said: “This is a bit of a s***tbox to drive. And sorry for the back problems.”
Hamilton later told the media he was “praying” for the race to be over, such was the pain in his back. “The only thing was biting down my teeth with pain and just adrenaline. I cannot express the pain you experience, especially on the straight here. In the end you are just praying for it to end. We are in such a good position still in 3rd and 4th. It is a great result and the team did well with the strategy. Once we fix this bouncing we will be right in the race because we are losing for sure a second just with bouncing.”
Wolff told the media Hamilton is a doubt for Canada, saying: “You can see that it is not muscular, it goes properly deep into the spine and there are some consequences. The solution could be to have someone on reserve, which we do at any race.”
F1 news: Lewis Hamilton a ‘doubt’ for Canada
Lewis Hamilton is a doubt for the Canadian Grand Prix after injuring his back in Baku on Sunday. Hamilton finished fourth behind race winner Max Verstappen, fellow Red Bill driver Sergio Perez and Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate George Russell, but suffered back pain as his car bounced around the Azerbaijan street circuit, a result of F1’s troublesome ‘porpoising’ phenomenon this season. Asked if Hamilton’s was now a doubt for Canada, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff told reporters: “Yeah, definitely.”
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