Whether during the “real” Grand Prix, contested on Sunday, or during the sprint races, these events organized the day before, over a much shorter distance, thwarting the domination of the drivers of the Red Bull team is a matter of prowess. This is what the Monegasque Charles Leclerc succeeded at the wheel of his Ferrari, Saturday April 29, in the streets of Baku, in Azerbaijan. The Ferari driver finished second, behind Mexican Sergio Pérez but ahead of championship leader Max Verstappen.
On the shores of the Caspian Sea, the scene of the 4th round of the Formula 1 season, Leclerc, starting from pole position, had predicted: “It will be difficult to keep the reins” against the overpowered Red Bull. Despite a good start, then a good recovery after the intervention of the safety car at the start of the race, the Scuderia driver only resisted Pérez’s RB19 eight laps (out of 17).
“The Red Bulls still have the advantage in the race, but we must not forget how far we were on the previous meetings”, welcomes Leclerc, who offers Ferrari its best classification in the race since the arrival of the Frenchman Frédéric Vasseur at the head of the team, in January.
At the back, Verstappen, double reigning world champion and third on the grid, had a hectic start to the sprint. In the fight to keep his position against the Briton George Russell (Mercedes), the Dutchman was hit by his opponent’s Mercedes and his single-seater was damaged at the level of the pontoon.
“I just don’t understand why take so many risks in the first lap,” he ranted at England’s Russell after the finish. Russell finished 4th ahead of the other Ferrari, that of Carlos Sainz, 5th.
A nightmarish weekend for Alpine
Spaniard Fernando Alonso, in great shape since the start of the season at the wheel of his Aston Martin, finished 6th at the end of this sprint race which was contested for the first time on an urban circuit since the establishment of the format in 2021.
Just over 100 km long, swallowed up in about thirty minutes, the sprint race offers a few points in the championship: from eight points for the first to one point for the 8th.
In the driver standings, Leclerc, 10th before this sprint, moved up to 8th place, with 13 points. Verstappen (75 points) is still well ahead and still ahead of teammate Pérez (62 pts), Alonso (48) and seven-time British champion Lewis Hamilton (40).
At the rear, the image of the sprint will certainly remain that of the tire of Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) packing up on the Baku track. The Japanese had to give up.
On the French side at Alpine, Pierre Gasly finished 13th and Esteban Ocon, 18th, far from the points. In Azerbaijan, the tricolor team is currently living through a nightmarish weekend. On Friday, Gasly saw his engine go up in smoke just a quarter of an hour after the start of practice, while Ocon immediately returned to the garage to check for a potential problem in the back of his car. Later in the day, Gasly only qualified 19th, and Ocon 12th for Sunday’s grand prix. Ocon was further penalized for “taking [his single-seater] out of parc fermé”. As for the sprint race, the Normand will again be forced to start from the pits on Sunday.
