F1: Ferrari suffer double DNF in Azerbaijan, Charles Leclerc frustrated

Ferrari and Charles Leclerc’s championship chances received a big blow Sunday after both cars did not finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Red Bull, meanwhile, repeated their Spain feat with a one-two. 

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Max Verstappen won at Baku, Sergio Perez coming second. Both the Mercedes cars, George Russel and Lewis Hamilton, were third and fourth. 

With no points in Azerbaijan, Leclerc, who led the season initially, has fallen to third. Max Verstappen leads the driver standings with 150 points. He is followed by teammate Perez at 129. The Ferrari driver has 116 points and his colleague Carlos Sainz is fifth with 83. 

Red Bull lead the constructor standings with 279 points. Ferrari are second with 199. 

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On lap 9, Sainz, who started fourth, pulled up due to a hydraulics failure. Charles Leclerc, the pole-sitter, had lost his lead at the start but came up after pitting under a Virtual Safety Car brought out for his teammate’s stoppage. However, a second power unit issue in three races forced him to retire on Lap 20. 

“I am more than frustrated, obviously. The first stint in the beginning, we weren’t particularly strong, but towards the end of the stint on the medium I was catching back Checo [Perez] and then obviously there was the VSC [Virtual Safety Car], and we decided to take that opportunity to pit, and I think it was the right choice,” Leclerc said. 

He further added that Ferrari need to look into the issue so it does not happen again. 

“We were in the lead of the race, I was managing the tyres well, we just had to manage the tyres and the race till the end, which I think was… we were definitely in the best position possible to do that. Another DNF – it hurts… We really need to look into that for it to not happen again.”

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The Monaco-based racer will now need a miracle and major failures on Red Bull’s part to stand a chance in the championship. 

When asked whether Baku is going to play a significant role in the championship, Leclerc said, “It’s more than a significance. I don’t really have the words to be honest, I came straight from the car to here. It is just a huge disappointment and I just hope we can jump back from it, and to be on top of those things.”