After a start that had not been perfect on his part, Charles Leclerc quickly lost the first position to the benefit of Sergio Pérez, but after a hydraulic problem that caused the abandonment of his team-mate, Carlos Sainz, the Monegasque driver entered the pits to take advantage of the VSC and change tires.
His rivals, Max Verstappen and Checo Pérez, stayed on the track and in this way the Ferrari driver managed to regain the lead when both cars of the Austrian structure entered the pits to assemble a new set of hard drives.
However, it all came crashing down when his F1-75’s power unit failed again and again, at a time when he was leading the race ahead of his closest rival in the race for the drivers’ title Formula 1 in 2022. In addition, it was an engine in which he had replaced some parts for this demanding weekend, something that could also put him in complications.
This was Leclerc’s engine failure in Baku at the 2022 F1 Azerbaijan GP
This is the second abandonment of the Monegasque driver, in addition to the one he suffered at the Spanish Grand Prix. That Sunday, when everything seemed to indicate that he would get a fairly placid victory, the engine of his Ferrari also let him down, putting the 25 points on a plate to his greatest rival, Verstappen, who again here in Baku could hit the top of the table.
At the moment, the Dutch driver leads Leclerc in the drivers’ standings by a total of 9 points, which after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix could become up to 35 if Verstappen wins and also the extra point for the fastest lap of the race.
