F1 world erupts over terrifying finish as Verstappen, Hamilton crash out

The F1 world was stunned as some frightening late drama robbed Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton on a dramatic day in Baku.

Max Verstappen had a day to forget.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez won a chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix as both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton failed to finish.

Sebastian Vettel for Aston Martin and Pierre Gasly for Alpha Tauri completed the unexpected podium after the streets of Baku lived up to their reputation for delivering a dramatic race that saw all hell break loose on the final laps.

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Australian Daniel Ricciardo was ninth while McLaren teammate Lando Norris finished fifth.

Verstappen crashed with five laps to go and the sixth race of the season at his mercy. Hamilton then locked up at the restart when on target for second.

As the dust began to settle on the banks of the Caspian Sea, Verstappen retained his slender four point lead in the drivers’ standings.

His teammate Perez gained his first win since joining Red Bull this season and the second of his career.

“I’m so happy for today. Normally Baku is pretty crazy but I have to say sorry to Max,” Perez said. “He deserved the win today and it would have been good for the team to get a 1-2, but the win is a fantastic result.”

Max Verstappen was gutted.

Perez inherited the lead when Verstappen’s left rear tyre shredded triggering a high-speed crash in the straight as he was set to collect his second consecutive win and third of the season.

“Tyre!” shouted a distraught Verstappen on the team radio.

Verstappen was furious, punching a barrier after kicking his car while Red Bull boss Christian Horner was inconsolable in the garage. The young Dutchman didn’t hide his true feelings after the race, suggesting tyre provider Pirelli would avoid blame by pointing to debris on the track as the reason for his mishap.

“I didn’t feel anything up until the moment that I suddenly went to the right, the tyre just blew off the rim and it’s not a nice impact to have, it’s quite a dangerous place to have a tyre blowout at that speed,” he said.

“For sure (there will be talks with Pirelli) but we know the result from that conversation already and that’s a bit hard to accept.

“It will be related to debris, it’s like that. I’m sure there will be talks, Pirelli isn’t happy with what happened here today, but it doesn’t change anything to the race and the result I got here.

“Of course I’m p***ed off because of what happened today. It was a fairly easy race for me.

“Sometimes this sport is very harsh when things like this happen, it’s s**t.”

F1 pundits also weighed in on the terrifying crash as question marks were asked about Pirelli’s tyres.

“It’s not acceptable, it’s not acceptable,” Sky Sports commentator Paul di Resta said. “That could be championship deciding.”

Fellow expert David Croft added: “Pirelli have gone one step softer with the tyre compound for this year’s race. Have they gone too soft or is it just construction?”

Horner said it was “exactly the same tyre that failed on” Lance Stroll, who also crashed out of the race.

Verstappen is inconsolable

Could have lost his life with that crash.

Pirelli needs to answer questions

— Cinderella Man (@Osi_Suave) June 6, 2021

Tired: Verstappen was robbed. Pirelli have some explaining to do.

Wired: All F1 races should be 2 laps.

— Phil Murphy (@Phil_Sports) June 6, 2021

Serious questions for Pirelli to answer after this. Absolutely gutted for Max Verstappen who had once again been supreme. Tyre failure crashes are horrendous #F1#AzerbaijanGP

— Luke Gardener (@LukeGardener82) June 6, 2021

Retirements are one thing. But a completely faultless tyre failure amidst an extremely close championship sucks, man. These lost points are going to play a role all season for Verstappen. #AzerbaijanGP

— Michael Castillo (@MichaelCastFS) June 6, 2021

After a red-flag stoppage lasting more than half an hour to clear debris from Verstappen’s stricken car, the grand prix resumed from the grid with a two lap sprint to the chequered flag.

Hamilton looked to have the measure of Perez but the Mercedes seven-time world champion spun off at turn one, leaving the band to play the Mexican rather than British national anthem.

He revealed after the race that he had accidentally flicked a switch that Hamilton said essentially turned his brakes off — a setting called brake magic.

Pole-sitter Charles Leclerc came in fifth ahead of Fernando Alonso for Alpine and Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda celebrating his highest finish for Alpha Tauri in seventh. Hamilton was 15th and out of the points for the first time since Austria in 2018.

“Naturally it’s quite a humbling experience,” said Hamilton. “We’ve worked so hard to come back into the top 10 and I put everything on the line but just lost out in the end.

“I clipped a switch that places the brakes off so I just went straight on at turn one on the restart.

“I’m very sorry to the guys and girls in the team. I had no idea that I’ve even touched the ‘magic’ switch.”

Gasly was stunned by the result after a great weekend in his AlphaTauri.

“It was such an insane race, and super intense last two laps,” he said. “I’ve already finished once first, once second and I missed that third place so it feels incredible to get that podium.”

Everything went wrong for Lewis Hamilton.

Leclerc made a slick start to proceedings, but Hamilton was lurking and the world champion surged past the pole-sitting Ferrari going into turn one at the start of lap three. Verstappen executed an identical manoeuvre to move past Leclerc and into second on lap seven.

Hamilton came in for a pit stop on lap 12, rejoining having swapped soft tyres for hard in fourth — another car costing him vital seconds on his exit from the pits.

Verstappen and Perez followed suit, leaving Vettel in charge. The German four-time former champion came in eventually to leave the two Red Bulls being hunted down by Hamilton approaching the midway point of the 51-lap contest.

The only driver not to have pitted was Stroll, but the Canadian was back in the pits in the medical car on lap 31 after a high-speed smash on the straight when his left rear tyre shredded.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Get me out of this place on the track. Puncture, I think,” he said, the crash forcing a long safety car interval. He escaped unhurt.

Racing resumed four laps later with Verstappen and Perez leading. Vettel, enjoying his best race for new team Aston Martin, jumped Leclerc and then picked off Gasly to leave Hamilton in his cross-hairs.

With five laps to go Verstappen’s race was cruelly over, but Perez managed to save the day for Red Bull.

Azerbaijan GP: Top 10

1) Sergio Perez — Red Bull

2) Sebastian Vettel — Aston Martin

3) Pierre Gasly — AlphaTauri

4) Charles Leclerc — Ferrari

5) Lando Norris — McLaren

6) Fernando Alonso — Alpine

7) Yuki Tsunoda — AlphaTauri

8) Carlos Sainz — Ferrari

9) Daniel Ricciardo — McLaren

10) Kimi Raikkonen — Alfa Romeo

With AFP