It wasn’t the Baku thriller of previous years, but that won’t worry Red Bull who enjoyed the dream result at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
All in all, it was a hell of a day for Ferrari, as a double withdrawal in the first half of the race, both as a result of problems with the car, caused them to fall much further adrift on the tables. of the World Championship.
Some riders never got a chance to show off everything they could do at the Baku City Circuit, but at least they generally kept it clean and no one crashed.
Here is our full set of ratings for the eighth round of the 22nd this season:
Max Verstappen: Five wins out of eight now for the world champion and that was as dominant as any, once Ferrari and his own teammate had finished with any resistance.
Any suggestion, following the events of the last few races and also earlier this weekend, that Verstappen was under pressure from inside Red Bull was ruled out when he took the lead on turn 1 on lap 15, in the middle of a “don’t fight” message. to Sergio Pérez who barely needed it given the disparity of pace.
There is no fast lap for the Dutchman, but a 21-point lead in the standings, and just as important, a 34-second return to the non-Red Bull first rival, will more than make up for it. 9.5.
Sergio Pérez: A brilliant start for the Mexican P2 led him, but everything seemed to change from the moment the virtual security car was deployed after the withdrawal of Carlos Sainz and after Charles Leclerc made a stop in boxes, Perez had no shock between himself and Verstappen.
He was closed and passed and from then on had no response to the speed of his teammate, spending a second half of the grand prize quite lonely with the position of runner-up secured without setbacks.
Until the second position also of the championship, this result indicated that Pérez will need the Ferraris to get involved in the end, like in Monaco, if he wants to have any chance of overcoming the points difference with his teammate. 7.5.
George Russell: As for this season, it was a typical Russell drive, being able, in his own words, to “pick up the pieces” as he benefited from Ferrari’s withdrawals to get his third podium of 2022.
Remarkable consistency of the youngest Mercedes driver, who finished third and fifth in all eight races. And now it’s Russell 7-1 Hamilton just for good measure. 8.
Lewis Hamilton: He was voted driver of the day, Hamilton would have even earned that honor just for overcoming the race due to the back pain he was experiencing due to the bounce of the Mercedes W13.
Team manager Toto Wolff had even expressed pre-race concern over whether the 37-year-old could reach the checkered flag, and the way Hamilton gently pulled himself out of the car showed which had been an ordeal.
“In the end, you’re just praying for it to end,” Hamilton said. But you would never have guessed while the race was in progress, as he made a number of good forward moves to get home fourth. 9.
Pierre Gasly: A much improved overall weekend for Gasly, who fought for the “best of the rest” outside of Red Bull and Ferrari and comfortably achieved his highest position of the season so far in fifth place .
It remains to be seen if this represents a twist in AlphaTauri’s fortune, but then a Frenchman smiling in the media pen was a refreshing sight. 8.
a great feeling to score good points again! 👌 Ready to give that boost to Canada next week!
– Scuderia AlphaTauri (@ AlphaTauriF1) June 12, 2022
Sebastian Vettel: Like Gasly, Vettel finished on the podium in Baku last year and there is clearly something in this place that they both like.
Again, the best end of the season for Aston Martin, and at least the German came home ahead of Esteban Ocon despite losing two places when he left the track trying to pass the Alpine on lap 13. 8.
Fernando Alonso: After being accused of using “ridiculous” tactics by Alex Albon in the standings, it would not have been a surprise for Alonso to have another trick up his sleeve after his unusual defensive driving in Monaco.
But there was nothing obvious that would bother his rivals this time and the Spaniard was another man with the right to be happy with his working day, crossing the P7 line. 7.5.
Daniel Ricciardo: The orders of the McLaren team were a feature of this race, as their drivers adopted opposing strategies, and it was Ricciardo who came out on the right side.
He was told to stay behind Lando Norris from the start, he received compensation at the end of the race as the hard compound seemed to work better for both of them than the media.
A more encouraging result for the Australian under pressure and on which to build. 8.
Lando Norris: Someone would always be unhappy as a result of those team orders and it was Norris, who thought he should have been allowed to challenge Ricciardo in the end when the points were in play; he had a cheeky look at turn 1. but decided against it.
This wasn’t McLaren’s most competitive weekend, but after starting right in front of Ricciardo, Norris was clearly disappointed to finish behind him. 7.
Esteban Ocon: The Frenchman was in defensive mode for most of the race and was overtaken by several drivers, but still managed to add a point.
That’s six points out of eight for Ocon, 10 of 12 going back to last year, but he’s now been second best to Alonso twice in a row after a good start. 6.
Valtteri Bottas: Alfa Romeo arrived with a lot of excitement but did not do well and Bottas had an unusually below normal rating, surpassed by his teammate.
The withdrawals made the Finn just out of the points, but on a circuit where he has had several fortunes in the past, this was not a memorable weekend. 6.
Alex Albon: Williams continues to struggle, but Albon returned to his best performance, starting in the same row as his teammate but able to progress better.
There never seemed to be a realistic point perspective, but Albon did it as well as could be expected in the circumstances. 7.
Yuki Tsunoda: A split DRS flap ruined Tsunoda’s career as he lost seven places when he was ordered to enter the pits of the black and orange flag and make repairs in operation: an engraving job fast that sent the Japanese pilot back.
Tsunoda thought that sixth place could have been possible without this problem, which would have been a credible result. Instead, he finished 13th. 7.
Mick Schumacher: After his big accidents in Jeddah and Monaco, the last thing Schumacher needed was another diversion on a street circuit and at least he managed to avoid it.
But this was not a competitive weekend for the German, again surpassed by his teammate, and after starting the last one, he made no significant progress. 5.
Nicholas Latifi: If Schumacher is under pressure on Haas, Latifi must feel even hotter after another miserable weekend for the Canadian.
Even before the lights went out, he had done enough to win a 10-second stop penalty, as a Williams mechanic saw he was too far ahead in his grille slot and pushed the car back, more beyond the deadline when he should have left the track.
Then there was a penalty of more than five seconds for ignoring blue flags. Latifi has to hope that her home run next weekend will be a much happier occasion. 4.
We leave Baku with great enthusiasm as we prepare for a trip to Canada
Thank you for your support as always, team We #WeAreWilliams #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/Skyi32akQK
– Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) June 12, 2022
Not finished:
Lance Stroll: Of the five retirees, Stroll drove away after being called up three laps from the finish, as Aston Martin detected some unexplained “very high swings” in his car.
But after a drop in the standings, this was another unconvincing weekend for the Canadian who was well put in place by teammate Vettel. 5.
Kevin Magnussen: A couple of good advances from Magnussen on Bottas and Albon, but this was not a race that seemed likely to bring more points for the Dane.
He withdrew on lap 33 with what appeared to be a problem with the power unit. 6.5.
Zhou Guanyu: One of the stars in the early stages of the race, especially in the middle of the field, Zhou overtook Stroll and his teammate Bottas, but was later told to “box” due to a problem in turn 24.
He was understandably discouraged because it wasn’t the first time this season had passed, but from a ball point of view it should serve as a confidence boost for the 23-year-old Chinese. 7.5.
Charles Leclerc: Perez hit on turn 1, Leclerc closed and Ferrari bet on calling him in the pits under the Virtual Safety Car; it is not that the strategy had a chance to bear fruit as its power unit failed on lap 20.
For the third race in a row, Ferrari was to blame for Leclerc’s inability to turn pole position into a victory, but the start meant that he was not impeccable on his part either. 7.
Carlos Sainz: On reaching the ninth round, this was the third anticipated start of the Spaniard’s campaign and it has surely put an end to any remote possibility he had of returning to the battle for the championship.
Running fourth, where he had started, the race had not developed enough by then to give Sainz a score. N / A.