Red Bull Motorsports
F1
Max Verstappen comes home a fighting 4th in Baku
Aston Martin Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen takes his hat-trick of fourth places in 2019 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Valtteri Bottas wins from pole position.
At the lights Valtteri Bottas managed to make the most of his pole position and fend off team-mate Lewis Hamilton, followed by Sebastian Vettel with Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’sMax Verstappen dropping one place to fifth behind a fast-starting Sergio Pérez in his Racing Point machine.
At the beginning of lap six Verstappen sized up Pérez and passed the Mexican under braking from DRS into the first corner and set about Vettel in third place as Bottas extended his early lead to almost three seconds.
By lap 10, Charles Leclerc had recovered from his disaster in qualifying, where the French driver ended up eighth on the grid following a heavy shunt at the notorious Turn 8, and passed Verstappen for fourth
The French Ferrari driver looked after his medium compound tyres and, underlining his weekend-long pace, stayed out until he'd established a 10-second lead over Bottas.
Gasly looked to cap off a mature drive, coming home in sixth, recovering well from a pitlane start following a weighbridge infringement in qualifying, until he retired on lap 40, triggering a virtual safety car.
With the track back to green for the final 10 laps Bottas held off Hamilton, with Vettel following the Mercedes pair across the line and Verstappen taking his third fourth place in a row just five seconds back.
Fourth place again for Verstappen – Mr Consistency
It seems that Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappenis emphasising consistency is the key to his championship aspirations in 2019.
Red Bull Racing’s flying Dutchman crossed the line in fourth on the streets of Baku, making this result his third fourth-place in a row, following on from an excellent third place finish to start the season off in Australia.
Verstappen started fifth on the grid and drove a solid and speedy race, looking after his tyres and setting a handful of mid-race fastest laps to end up just a few seconds behind the leading trio at the chequered flag.
The latest result coupled with updates promised for the next race in Spain potentially puts Verstappen and team-mate Pierre Gasly in a strong position.
Gasly’s impressive recovery comes to nothing
Red Bull Racing's Pierre Gasly at the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
© Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Pierre Gasly started the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from the back of the grid after falling foul of the stewards on Friday when the French driver ignored a signal to stop at the FIA weighbridge the end of FP2.
Despite starting from the pitlane, Gasly, fresh from his career-best result in China, where he finished sixth, scythed his way through the field, running easily in the top six and with a pit stop in hand over nearest challenger Sergio Pérez in the Racing Point.
Sadly, it all went up in smoke when, on lap 40, Gasly was forced to pull off the circuit with a loss of power, but the French driver will be back in his RB15 looking to get back on track in Spain.
Toro Rosso looked quick on the streets of Baku but bizarre crash denies Kyvat
Scuderia Toro Rosso have looked competitive all season and in qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the fast street circuit really suited their STR14, they moved up a notch, with Daniil Kvyat securing sixth on the grid – the team’s best qualifying position since Japan last year.
Meanwhile, Kyvat’s race came to an abrupt end when Daniel Ricciardo attempted to out-brake the Toro Rosso driver and inadvertently took the Russian off the track with him. Then, to add insult to injury, Ricciardo reversed into the Toro Rosso, terminally damaging both cars in a farcical turn of events.
Kyvat’s team-mate enjoyed and endured a topsy turvy race running well in the top 10 and as low as 18th and at the flag was unlucky not to pass Kimi Räikkönen in the Alfa Romeo to take 10th and claim the final point once again.
Championship battle heading to Spain: five-way title battle?
With four races down the F1 circus heads to western Europe with everything nicely poised for a proper title scrap.
Although Mercedes are the only team to win in 2019, this disguises the pace of Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel’s ability and hunger to win titles and Verstappen’s consistency and talent.
Heading to the Spanish Grand Prix, Bottas leads Hamilton by a single point, and Verstappen trails Vettel by just one point in fourth place. Sure, there's a margin of 35 points between four-time champion Vettel in third and leader Bottas, but there's a long way to go.
Also, after Leclerc’s pace in Azerbaijan, Ferrari’s French new-boy will be itching to make up for his Baku qualifying error and show the world what he can do and make up for lost ground to challenge Mercedes, his team-mate and Verstappen.
