Written by Hafiz Akbar, Edited by Tanishka Vashee
After a hard fought and most definitely controversial quali session yesterday, Charles Leclerc was to start the race from pole position. But that happiness for the young Monegasque and the Tifosi was cut short after a drive shaft issue which immediately put him out of the race before it even started. Which resulted in Max Verstappen starting the race from pole.
Verstappen started off well and kept the lead he had up to Sainte Devote. Valtteri Bottas followed a close second but after a few laps, the Mercedes driver was trailing far behind the young Dutch driver.Â
It was fairly uneventful until Lewis Hamilton popped into the pit and screwed his undercut. Pierre Gasly and Sebastian Vettel went ahead of the veteran racer, with Sergio Perez overtaking all three racers in his line.
Valtteri Bottas had another horrid weekend after his botched pitstop, his front right tyre jammed due to a cross fitted wheel nut. He’s effectively out of the race after the Mercedes crew grinds his wheel nuts to a fine ring, making it even harder to remove the tyre.
Max Verstappen went on a one-stop, like all the other drivers did, and got a perfect 2-second stop. He went on and gained back the place that was taken by his teammate Sergio Perez. Whilst the Mexican dropped back to fourth, with Sainz and Norris going through.
In regards to flags and penalties, there was a black-and-white flag flown for Mick Schumacher. The German stepped out of track limits but no investigation was put into place. Lance Stroll, however, was investigated for cutting the pit lane exit.
Despite having a horrible weekend, Lewis Hamilton bagged the fastest lap of the race. Lando Norris and Sergio Perez’s fight for third place gave us some action to follow.
After a well fought race and a very exciting race for the fans, it’s Max Verstappen to get his first ever win and for the first time since Sebastian Vettel, another driver other than a Mercedes driver has led the Drivers’ Championship. Carlos Sainz finished the race in a powerful second ahead of his former teammate, Lando Norris in the Gulf-Mclaren car.
After this race, Red Bull has inched ever closer into the reign of Mercedes and so did Max to the reign of Hamilton.
Formula One goes aground on one of the most famous street circuits of Baku, Azerbaijan. Will we see a Mercedes uprising or will the Red Bull of Max and Sergio keep on the winning ways, we’ll see you in two weeks.
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