The Red Bull driver took victory at the 2022 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix after overtaking his teammate, Sergio Pérez, taking advantage of the abandonment of Charles Leclerc, who was forced to stop his Ferrari due to a problem in the engine on lap 20.
The Monegasque was leading the race until the Italian power unit said enough, prompting his second retirement due to mechanical setbacks, and left the two Austrian cars fighting for victory alone.
Verstappen was 13 seconds behind at the time of the pit stop, but as he got out of the RB18 celebrating victory he assured that he was confident he could have beaten Leclerc even if he hadn’t retired.
“I think today we had an incredible pace, we were able to take care of the tires, cut time and move to the lead,” said the Dutchman after scoring the 25th win of his career with more than 20 seconds over his Mexican teammate.
“But then, of course, maybe I’ve been a bit lucky with the retirement. Our car was really good though, so I could have closed that gap, although it was a race that was put in our hands.” reigning world champion and current leader of the championship. “Overall, I’m very, very happy with the balance of the car.”
Verstappen explained that he managed to find a better set-up to take care of his tires during the appointment in Baku, after finishing behind Pérez in qualifying and practice, something that was key.
“The behavior of the tires together with the grip of the car is what you need here, so in the end doing a one-two makes it a really good day for us,” he said.
In this way, with the abandonment of Charles Leclerc, the Dutchman extends his advantage in the lead, with 21 points over his closest pursuer, his Red Bull teammate, Checo Pérez, who has risen to second place.
After scoring as many points as possible in Azerbaijan, the Austrians also widened the gap to Ferrari, leaving the Italians a distant 80 units .
