Motorsports
Perez wins, a comfortable 1-2 for Red Bull at the Azerbaijan GP
Sergio Perez was the winner at the Azerbaijan GP, Max Verstappen was second and Charles Leclerc rounded out the podium at the Baku circuit.
Red Bull was expected to dominate the Baku circuit and the predictions were confirmed. Sergio Perez was the first to see the checkered flag, Max Verstappen completed a 1:2.
At the start we didn’t have an incident between the leaders, with Leclerc leading, followed by Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, Hamilton and Alonso.
Further back we had contact between Piastri and Albon. Verstappen seemed to take a wait-and-see attitude until the DRS activated. After that, the Dutchman attacked Leclerc and comfortably passed him on the fourth lap.
Two laps later, Perez did the same as both Red Bulls took over the race. Further back we had a rollercoaster ride between Saints, Hamilton and Alonso, all 1.5 seconds apart.
On lap 10, Verstappen had to pit for a tire change after complaining about severe skidding. The Dutchman was unlucky Immediately after De Vries retired we had a safety car, so everyone went to change tires.
Thus, Perez took the lead with Leclerc second and Verstappen third. The Dutchman overtook Monegasque at the restart. This restored Red Bulls 1-2, but with the order of the drivers reversed.
The fight for victory was decided by the first pit stop and Red Bull’s unwise decision to bring Verstappen into the pits for a tire change, despite Nick de Vries’ Alpha Tauri having already stalled on track, with a fractured front left Suspension after the Dutchman hit the wall.
The marshals soon decided to deploy the safety car, just as Verstappen entered the pits. On the contrary, Hamilton and Mercedes, who had made their first pit stop a little earlier to defend their position with the undercut in front of Alonso, were simply unlucky as De Vries’ accident hadn’t happened yet.
After that, Pérez, Leclerc and Alonso, who came to change tires under the safety car, came out on top as winners. The top two returned to the track in their respective race positions, ahead of Verstappen, who lost the lead to a wrong decision by Red Bull.
With Red Bull’s top speed advantage down the straight, Leclerc was an easy target for Verstappen even with DRS turned off, so the Dutchman attacked ahead of Turn 3 and moved into second place. In the meantime, however, Perez had managed to get out of Verstappen’s DRS zone to defend his lead.
Despite Verstappen pushing furiously afterwards, Perez reacted perfectly and managed to increase the gap to around 3.5 inches, helped by some grip issues in the Dutchman’s RB19 due to an imbalance in the diff-brake setup.
In the last 10 rounds, RBR managed to solve the problem, but Perez remained unerring and never jeopardized his victory. The gap rose to 3.6 inches and never fell much below that until the checkered flag, Perez’s second of the year.
Charles Leclerc’s performance was also excellent, in Ferrari’s first encouraging result (and podium) of the year: the Monegasque managed his tires well to ward off the threat of Fernando Alonso behind him.
The Spaniard had earlier made a brilliant move to pass Carlos Sainz and relied on the Aston Martin AMR23’s better tire management to claim his fourth consecutive podium finish of the year. But Ferrari showed improvement in this area as well, and Leclerc was on target.
Hamilton moved up to 6th after his first pit stop mishap and took advantage of a mistake by Lance Stroll to overtake the Canadian, while George Russell dropped to 8th after being passed by Hamilton as the young Brit conceded that he didn’t do well at the restart after the safety car.
After the Azerbaijan GP ended with the first sprint of the year, Formula 1 now moves on to next week (5-7 May) with the 5th round of the season in Miami, USA.
Source: sport 24
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According to reports in the Italian media, the Ferrari team has made a decision about race engineer Lewis Hamilton for the 2026 season.
Riccardo Adami has been working with the seven-time world champion since the Briton moved to the Scuderia in January 2025. But there were a few strange and resonant radio conversations between them throughout the season.
During the Australian Grand Prix, Hamilton appeared confused by the lack of information from his engineer, and at the Miami round he reacted strongly to the situation, issuing team orders and advising the team to “drink some tea” after Charles Leclerc refused to let him pass.
At the Monaco Grand Prix, Riccardo Adami asked Hamilton: “Are you mad at me?” There was another incident where he ignored her request. Ferrari later announced that the engineer had left the pit wall at that time.
A similar situation was repeated after the last race of the season. During the radio exchange, Hamilton thanked the team and the race engineer for their cooperation, but received no response. The Briton then asked if they had heard him and received an explanation that the team were talking to each other at the time.
At the end of the season, team principal Fred Vasser said the Scuderia would review Hamilton’s inner circle to improve their results. And it looks like the decision has already been made.
According to Italian publication Auto Racer, Ferrari has decided to retain Riccardo Adami as Hamilton’s race engineer for 2026. The most important reason for this was a “very positive” private dinner between the pilot and the engineer.
The team expects to take a serious step forward in 2026 in light of new technical regulations. Next season could be decisive for Hamilton because 2026 is considered the last year of his current contract with Ferrari.
His first season in the Scuderia was a difficult one for the Briton. Hamilton finished the championship in sixth place using the problematic SF-25 car, but lost 86 points to his teammate.
Hamilton went a season without a podium for the first time in his career, while Leclerc scored seven goals. Of particular concern was the seven-time champion’s deteriorating qualifying form later in the year.
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
Mercedes Formula 1 team president Toto Wolff believes that driver George Russell is ready to become a champion, but young Andrea Kimi Antonelli still needs time.
“Nobody knows how much power the Mercedes engine will have in 2026. We don’t know what the other teams’ engines will be like either. Is Russell ready to take the championship if given the right car? 100%, absolutely ready. There is nothing to add here. He is ready to be champion.”
“Antonelli is only 19 years old. What kind of peak are we talking about? He can be at the peak after 3-5 seasons. I believe we should give him this time to gain experience.”
“It’s moving in the right direction,” Wolff said.
F1 will have new technical regulations on engines and aerodynamics from the 2026 season.
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
Haas driver and Ferrari development program graduate Olliver Berman said his goal is to race in the Scuderia in the future and win victories with the red car.
The Briton was already racing for Ferrari at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix when he replaced Carlos Sainz due to appendicitis. He has since made significant progress at Haas and will remain with the team at the start of the new season.
Berman congratulated Isak Hajar on his promotion to Red Bull and said:
“Yes, of course I’m a little jealous that he will be fighting for high results in a team like Red Bull. But I’m sure my time will come, too, and I’m very happy for that. We’ve been racing since Formula 3 and he has shown incredible talent and speed. It’s great that the new generation of drivers are being recognized and now both Kimi and Isak are in the top teams. That’s great. All you have to do is wait for your chance and it will definitely come.”
Berman said about his dream of competing for the Scuderia:
“This is definitely my dream. It motivates me to do my best and I get up every morning to do my best in everything I do. I want to perform in the red. I want to win in the red. That’s my life goal. I’ve been lucky enough to feel it once already and I know what it feels like, so I try to get back to that regularly.”
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
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