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Max Verstappen won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday by more than 20 seconds to make it four wins in his last five races.
Verstappen’s recent run of dominance has earned him a sizable lead in the Formula One drivers’ standings, but he was also helped Sunday when Ferrari had another disastrous performance. For the fourth race in a row, Charles Leclerc started from pole position, but failed to win. Leclerc instead was forced to retire from the race after having an engine problem on lap 20.
It was the second retirement of the day for Ferrari as Carlos Sainz Jr. had a brakes failure after just eight laps.
Verstappen faced a 13-second deficit at the time of Leclerc’s engine troubles, but the reigning F1 champion was confident he was going to challenge for the lead eventually.
“I think today we had an incredible pace in the card, we could really look after the tires and we could chip away at it, pass for the lead,” Verstappen said after the race, via Motorsport.com. “But then, of course also, maybe a tiny bit lucky because with the retirement.
“But I think nevertheless, our car was really good today. So I could have closed that gap. Then of course you have a race on your hands.”
Leclerc won two of the first three races of the 2022 season, but is now third in the drivers’ standings and 34 points behind Verstappen for the lead.
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