F1 Grand Prix race results: Verstappen wins Azerbaijan GP

Ferrari's Leclerc – who pitted early under a virtual safety car caused by teammate Carlos Sainz's retirement – was leading the race when his power unit failed after 20 laps.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez had taken the lead at the start from poleman Leclerc and held it until teammate Verstappen passed him on Lap 15, both Red Bulls then pitting and allowing Leclerc back in front until his retirement soon after.

That gifted an easy win to Verstappen, who pulled well clear of Perez, to extend his world championship lead.

2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix race results

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Points
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	51	-			25
2	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	51	20.823	20.823	20.823	19
3	George Russell	Mercedes	51	45.995	45.995	25.172	15
4	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	51	1'11.679	1'11.679	25.684	12
5	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	51	1'17.299	1'17.299	5.620	10
6	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	51	1'24.099	1'24.099	6.800	8
7	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	51	1'28.596	1'28.596	4.497	6
8	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	51	1'32.207	1'32.207	3.611	4
9	Lando Norris	McLaren	51	1'32.556	1'32.556	0.349	2
10	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	51	1'48.184	1'48.184	15.628	1
11	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	50	1 lap
12	Alex Albon	Williams	50	1 lap
13	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	50	1 lap
14	Mick Schumacher	Haas	50	1 lap
15	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	50	1 lap
16	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	46
	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	31
	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	23
	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	21
	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	8
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How the Azerbaijan Grand Prix unfolded

Leclerc held his pole advantage on the short run to Turn 1 but Perez lunged ahead of him at the first corner to take the lead. Verstappen had to defend from Sainz at Turn 3 but maintained third. Mercedes' George Russell was best of the rest, ahead of Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin).

Perez extended a 2s lead by the time DRS was activated, while Verstappen began to pressure Leclerc for second on Lap 5. Perez complained of a lack of traction but maintained his advantage over the warring Leclerc and Verstappen.

Sainz then pulled off at Turn 4 with a hydraulic failure on Lap 9, causing a virtual safety car that Leclerc, Russell, Hamilton, Vettel and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) decided to pit under. Leclerc suffered a slow stop, while Hamilton lost a place to Vettel having stacked in the pits behind Russell.

Perez led Verstappen 2.3s as the race went green, with Leclerc in third on fresh hard tyres but 13s back.

Verstappen reeled in Perez and passed him for the lead at Turn 1 on Lap 15, while Leclerc was catching them both on his new rubber. Perez pitted for fresh hards on Lap 17 and also suffered a slow stop and rejoined in third, just ahead of Russell.

Verstappen stopped on Lap 19, meaning a nine-lap fresher tyres advantage over Leclerc as he rejoined 13s behind him. But Leclerc's race ended soon after when his power unit failed at the end of Lap 20 and he smokily toured into the pits.

Verstappen led by over 6s by half distance and further extended the gap in the second half of the race.

Kevin Magnussen's Haas ground to a halt on Lap 33 causing a virtual safety car. Verstappen, Perez, Russell and Hamilton stopped again, with Gasly and Tsunoda staying out, the latter gaining a spot from Hamilton.

Hamilton quickly regained fifth from Tsunoda, the latter then suffering a DRS flap failure. He pitted for some hasty repairs, and was told not to use DRS again, but was now 13^th. Hamilton passed Gasly for fourth on Lap 44.

Vettel finished sixth, despite a trip down an escape road. He had tried to pass Esteban Ocon's Alpine at Turn 3 early on but overshot the corner and had to spin turn, dropping to 12^th. It took him over 10 laps to catch and pass Ocon properly but, in the long run, his misadventure only cost him one place to Hamilton.

Fernando Alonso (Alpine), the McLarens of Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris, and Ocon rounded out the point scorers.

2022 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix fastest laps

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	36	1'46.046			203.787
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	50	1'46.050	0.004	0.004	203.779
3	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	39	1'47.044	0.998	0.994	201.887
4	George Russell	Mercedes	42	1'47.177	1.131	0.133	201.636
5	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	42	1'47.523	1.477	0.346	200.987
6	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	13	1'47.531	1.485	0.008	200.972
7	Alex Albon	Williams	48	1'47.966	1.920	0.435	200.163
8	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	49	1'47.989	1.943	0.023	200.120
9	Lando Norris	McLaren	37	1'47.997	1.951	0.008	200.105
10	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	38	1'48.038	1.992	0.041	200.029
11	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	42	1'48.179	2.133	0.141	199.768
12	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	41	1'48.206	2.160	0.027	199.719
13	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	44	1'48.276	2.230	0.070	199.589
14	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	36	1'48.297	2.251	0.021	199.551
15	Mick Schumacher	Haas	40	1'48.410	2.364	0.113	199.343
16	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	39	1'48.519	2.473	0.109	199.143
17	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	12	1'48.723	2.677	0.204	198.769
18	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	12	1'48.789	2.743	0.066	198.648
19	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	3	1'48.978	2.932	0.189	198.304
20	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	37	1'49.583	3.537	0.605	197.209
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2022 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix pitstops

Cla	Driver	Chassis	1		2		3
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	M	18	H	15	H	18
2	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	M	16	H	17	H	18
3	George Russell	Mercedes	M	9	H	24	H	19
4	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	M	9	H	24	H	19
5	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	M	9	H	42
6	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	M	10	H	43
7	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	M	18	H	33
8	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	H	33	M	18
9	Lando Norris	McLaren	M	20	H	31
10	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	H	33	M	18
11	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	H	33	M	17
12	Alex Albon	Williams	M	9	H	20	H	21
13	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	M	9	H	29	S	15
14	Mick Schumacher	Haas	H	9	M	16	H	27
15	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	M	3	M	17	H	33
16	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	H	31	M	17
	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	M	11	H	22
	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	M	9	H	14
	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	M	9	H	12
	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	M	8
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