Leclerc and Sainz try to stop Red Bull being launched into Azerbaijan

‘Checo’ made it through the streets of Monaco two Sundays ago, Third victory in F1 -first of the year-, Shortly before Red Bull announced it was extending his contract until 2024. Mexican won in front of Spaniards carlos sainz (Ferrari) – repeating second place in the principality of the Côte d’Azur a year earlier – and Verstappen, a race marked by rain (which delays the start and forces the course to be shortened), the Monegasque. charles leclercfourth place due to strategic error of ‘Scuderia’ starting from ‘pole’; and fellow Spaniard, double Asturian world champion Fernando Alonso (Alp), finished seventh.

[Consulta la clasificación general del Mundial de F1]

Verstappen is the reigning world champion and has won four times this season. Leader of the World Cup with 125 points, nine more than Leclerc, who left Montmeló (Barcelona) after leaving the lead after an engine problem; He lost points again in Monte Carlo: he had started at the top of the grid in two races. ‘Checo’ is third, just fifteen points behind his teammate; and Sainz is fifth with 83 vehicles. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who was dethroned by ‘Mad Max’ last year, is sixth in the competition, only one less than Briton George Russell (Mercedes) and 33 advantages over his partner and compatriot.

urban settlement

Baku street circuit, 6,003 meters long, with twenty curves -12 on the left and eight on the right-, two DRS zones and the longest straight in the entire championship, 2.2 kilometers. Therefore, after just one weekend, as in Montreal (Canada), which will host the next Grand Prix, it prefers single-seats with higher speeds; Red Bulls on paper; They were far superior to the Ferraris in this regard, on the track that most closely resembles Azerbaijan, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia).

Inside third longest runway in the world -After Spa (Belgium) and Jeddah, teams will have to look for the configuration that allows the cars to go fast on the long main straight and at the same time get enough downforce for slower cornering in the first two turns. from the same three sectors.

[Consulta el calendario del Mundial de F1]

In Monaco, where third-starter ‘Checo’ smashed Sainz’s last attempt at second on the grid and ‘Mad Max’ third-quarter collider, Leclerc started from ‘pol’ ahead of them. But Ferrari’s strategic mistake – at one of the stops – caused him to lose three places to the Monegasque driver and put the others one place ahead; thus prevented by team orders from winning in Spain, the brave rider from Guadalajara signs his third win in first class; Sainz, tenth podium; Verstappen added three points to his lead over Leclerc ahead of the most iconic race of the season.

Alonso wants points

alonso, He had previously shined in qualifying without crashing on the third and final lap, starting seventh and finishing there, so now he’s trying to forget the misadventures that followed in the first races of the season, Thirteenth in the World Cup with ten points: one less than Australian Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) and Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) who won in Baku five years ago; and five from Dane Kevin Magnussen (Haas), who finished tenth overall.

At the Constructors’ World Championship, Alpine is in fifth place, well off the 235 points led by Red Bull; He leads Ferrari by 36 and Mercedes by 101: the winner of the same championship in the past eight years, when he celebrated all seven driver titles.

“I am very happy to extend my contract until at least 2024.“Before traveling to Azerbaijan, where he has run since 2016, ‘Checo’ commented: On one of the ‘talisman’ tracks where no one equals his three podiums. Having decided on my future will allow me to be one hundred percent. He’s focused on his goal of fighting for victories and world titles,” added the Mexican, who claims it was in the “best moment” of his sporting “career”.

Azerbaijan participated in the F1 World Championship in 2016 and on this occasion the European Grand Prix, which resulted in that year’s victory over world champion German Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) and Pérez’s third place in Force India.

Since 2017 – and except for 2020 due to the pandemic – the Grand Prix has always been held under the name of the country; and on a track where safety vehicles were most likely to enter, no one repeated the victory. And that there is a different ‘poleman’ every year.

‘Perez wants to repeat 2021 win

‘Checo’ placed third in 2018; and won a race with a crazy result last year; Verstappen crashed on his way to a seemingly certain victory. He restarted the race with two laps left and a driver from Guadalajara (Jalisco). He also took advantage of another mistake to celebrate Hamilton’s mistake at the time. -After Sakhir in Bahrain in 2020- It was his second win in F1; inside Alonso’s live ending moved up four places in one fell swoop, from tenth to sixth place.

His free practice will start this Friday, and for the eighth of the 22nd Grand Prix of the year, Verstappen said: “I already want to return to Baku; I still have to finish a job I didn’t finish last year.” said. The same tires used in Monaco two weeks ago: C3 -hard, recognizable by the white stripe – C4 -medium, yellow stripe- and C5 -soft, red -.

Rehearsals will conclude on Saturday, hours before qualifying, which will set the starting lineup for Sunday’s race; It was planned as 51 laps to complete a 306 kilometer journey.