Verstappen posts easy win

BAKU: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took full advantage of an engine failure for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to win the Azerbaijan GP on Sunday and open up a commanding lead in the Formula One championship.

The Dutchman (1:34:05.941) crossed the line 20.823 seconds clear of Sergio Perez, who was ordered not to battle with Verstappen and completed a one-two for Red Bull. This was after race leader Leclerc pulled into the pits with a smoking engine on the 20th lap.

George Russell (+45.995 seconds) took third for Mercedes while his teammate Lewis Hamilton (+71.679 seconds), voted the ‘Driver of the Day’, fought through back pain to finish fourth. Pole-sitter Leclerc’s retirement was his second in three races and was part of a double DNF (Did Not Finish) for Ferrari, with his teammate Carlos Sainz having already stopped with a hydraulic failure.

Leclerc dropped to third in the overall standings, 34 points behind leader Verstappen (150 points). Meanwhile, Perez, who scored a point for the fastest lap, is second with 129 points.

Are you in Chennai? Then click here to get our newspaper at your doorstep!