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F1 Grand Prix race results: Verstappen wins Azerbaijan GP

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday, as his world championship rival Charles Leclerc was forced to retire from the lead.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18, battle for the lead ahead of Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, the rest of the field at the start

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18, battle for the lead ahead of Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, the rest of the field at the start

Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Ferrari's Leclerc – who pitted early under a virtual safety car caused by teammate Carlos Sainz's retirement – was leading the race when his power unit failed after 20 laps.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez had taken the lead at the start from poleman Leclerc and held it until teammate Verstappen passed him on Lap 15, both Red Bulls then pitting and allowing Leclerc back in front until his retirement soon after.

That gifted an easy win to Verstappen, who pulled well clear of Perez, to extend his world championship lead.

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2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix race results

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval Points
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen
Red Bull 51 1:34'05.941 25
2 Mexico Sergio Perez
Red Bull 51 1:34'26.764 20.823 20.823 19
3 United Kingdom George Russell
Mercedes 51 1:34'51.936 45.995 25.172 15
4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes 51 1:35'17.620 1'11.679 25.684 12
5 France Pierre Gasly
AlphaTauri 51 1:35'23.240 1'17.299 5.620 10
6 Germany Sebastian Vettel
Aston Martin 51 1:35'30.040 1'24.099 6.800 8
7 Spain Fernando Alonso
Alpine 51 1:35'34.537 1'28.596 4.497 6
8 Australia Daniel Ricciardo
McLaren 51 1:35'38.148 1'32.207 3.611 4
9 United Kingdom Lando Norris
McLaren 51 1:35'38.497 1'32.556 0.349 2
10 France Esteban Ocon
Alpine 51 1:35'54.125 1'48.184 15.628 1
11 Finland Valtteri Bottas
Alfa Romeo 50 1 lap
12 Thailand Alex Albon
Williams 50 1 lap
13 Japan Yuki Tsunoda
AlphaTauri 50 1 lap
14 Germany Mick Schumacher
Haas 50 1 lap
15 Canada Nicholas Latifi
Williams 50 1 lap
16 Canada Lance Stroll
Aston Martin 46
Denmark Kevin Magnussen
Haas 31
China Zhou Guanyu
Alfa Romeo 23
Monaco Charles Leclerc
Ferrari 21
Spain Carlos Sainz
Ferrari 8

How the Azerbaijan Grand Prix unfolded

Leclerc held his pole advantage on the short run to Turn 1 but Perez lunged ahead of him at the first corner to take the lead. Verstappen had to defend from Sainz at Turn 3 but maintained third. Mercedes' George Russell was best of the rest, ahead of Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin).

Perez extended a 2s lead by the time DRS was activated, while Verstappen began to pressure Leclerc for second on Lap 5. Perez complained of a lack of traction but maintained his advantage over the warring Leclerc and Verstappen.

Sainz then pulled off at Turn 4 with a hydraulic failure on Lap 9, causing a virtual safety car that Leclerc, Russell, Hamilton, Vettel and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) decided to pit under. Leclerc suffered a slow stop, while Hamilton lost a place to Vettel having stacked in the pits behind Russell.

Perez led Verstappen 2.3s as the race went green, with Leclerc in third on fresh hard tyres but 13s back.

Verstappen reeled in Perez and passed him for the lead at Turn 1 on Lap 15, while Leclerc was catching them both on his new rubber. Perez pitted for fresh hards on Lap 17 and also suffered a slow stop and rejoined in third, just ahead of Russell.

Verstappen stopped on Lap 19, meaning a nine-lap fresher tyres advantage over Leclerc as he rejoined 13s behind him. But Leclerc's race ended soon after when his power unit failed at the end of Lap 20 and he smokily toured into the pits.

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Verstappen led by over 6s by half distance and further extended the gap in the second half of the race.

Kevin Magnussen's Haas ground to a halt on Lap 33 causing a virtual safety car. Verstappen, Perez, Russell and Hamilton stopped again, with Gasly and Tsunoda staying out, the latter gaining a spot from Hamilton.

Hamilton quickly regained fifth from Tsunoda, the latter then suffering a DRS flap failure. He pitted for some hasty repairs, and was told not to use DRS again, but was now 13th. Hamilton passed Gasly for fourth on Lap 44.

Vettel finished sixth, despite a trip down an escape road. He had tried to pass Esteban Ocon's Alpine at Turn 3 early on but overshot the corner and had to spin turn, dropping to 12th. It took him over 10 laps to catch and pass Ocon properly but, in the long run, his misadventure only cost him one place to Hamilton.

Fernando Alonso (Alpine), the McLarens of Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris, and Ocon rounded out the point scorers.

2022 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix fastest laps

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Mexico Sergio Perez
Red Bull 36 1'46.046 203.787
2 Netherlands Max Verstappen
Red Bull 50 1'46.050 0.004 0.004 203.779
3 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes 39 1'47.044 0.998 0.994 201.887
4 United Kingdom George Russell
Mercedes 42 1'47.177 1.131 0.133 201.636
5 Japan Yuki Tsunoda
AlphaTauri 42 1'47.523 1.477 0.346 200.987
6 Monaco Charles Leclerc
Ferrari 13 1'47.531 1.485 0.008 200.972
7 Thailand Alex Albon
Williams 48 1'47.966 1.920 0.435 200.163
8 Spain Fernando Alonso
Alpine 49 1'47.989 1.943 0.023 200.120
9 United Kingdom Lando Norris
McLaren 37 1'47.997 1.951 0.008 200.105
10 Canada Lance Stroll
Aston Martin 38 1'48.038 1.992 0.041 200.029
11 Finland Valtteri Bottas
Alfa Romeo 42 1'48.179 2.133 0.141 199.768
12 Germany Sebastian Vettel
Aston Martin 41 1'48.206 2.160 0.027 199.719
13 Australia Daniel Ricciardo
McLaren 44 1'48.276 2.230 0.070 199.589
14 France Esteban Ocon
Alpine 36 1'48.297 2.251 0.021 199.551
15 Germany Mick Schumacher
Haas 40 1'48.410 2.364 0.113 199.343
16 France Pierre Gasly
AlphaTauri 39 1'48.519 2.473 0.109 199.143
17 China Zhou Guanyu
Alfa Romeo 12 1'48.723 2.677 0.204 198.769
18 Denmark Kevin Magnussen
Haas 12 1'48.789 2.743 0.066 198.648
19 Spain Carlos Sainz
Ferrari 3 1'48.978 2.932 0.189 198.304
20 Canada Nicholas Latifi
Williams 37 1'49.583 3.537 0.605 197.209

2022 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix pitstops

Cla Driver Chassis 1 2 3
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen
Red Bull M 18 H 15 H 18
2 Mexico Sergio Perez
Red Bull M 16 H 17 H 18
3 United Kingdom George Russell
Mercedes M 9 H 24 H 19
4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes M 9 H 24 H 19
5 France Pierre Gasly
AlphaTauri M 9 H 42
6 Germany Sebastian Vettel
Aston Martin M 10 H 43
7 Spain Fernando Alonso
Alpine M 18 H 33
8 Australia Daniel Ricciardo
McLaren H 33 M 18
9 United Kingdom Lando Norris
McLaren M 20 H 31
10 France Esteban Ocon
Alpine H 33 M 18
11 Finland Valtteri Bottas
Alfa Romeo H 33 M 17
12 Thailand Alex Albon
Williams M 9 H 20 H 21
13 Japan Yuki Tsunoda
AlphaTauri M 9 H 29 S 15
14 Germany Mick Schumacher
Haas H 9 M 16 H 27
15 Canada Nicholas Latifi
Williams M 3 M 17 H 33
16 Canada Lance Stroll
Aston Martin H 31 M 17
Denmark Kevin Magnussen
Haas M 11 H 22
China Zhou Guanyu
Alfa Romeo M 9 H 14
Monaco Charles Leclerc
Ferrari M 9 H 12
Spain Carlos Sainz
Ferrari M 8

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