What have you done, Lando?
You missed a golden opportunity to significantly reduce the world championship gap from Oscar Piastri, who encountered crashes both during the qualifying and the race in Azerbaijan.
Both times his exit from proceedings presented a route by which you might make inroads on his advantage.
As Churchill once referred to Dunkirk, this was merely a deliverance, not a victory. Though you drove well through the 51-lap race, it was neither particularly daring nor audacious. The outcome was largely hindered by the setbacks in qualifying the day before.
And to the second problem. Max Verstappen has returned to the world championship jungle.
The Dutch lion secured his second consecutive victory, having triumphed in Monza just weeks earlier. This win was meticulously crafted, steadily yet surely placing him 69 points behind Piastri. While not a showcase of sheer force, the performance underscored his strategic prowess.
Verstappen led the entire race, finishing 14.6 seconds ahead, dominating the field. George Russell, despite battling illness, took second place. It’s been quite the season for him. Carlos Sainz seized third place for Williams, marking their first podium in four years, capitalizing on chaotic qualifying sessions in a somewhat uneventful race.
Max Verstappen stands proudly while being flanked by George Russell and Carlos Sainz
Verstappen celebrates his victory in Azerbaijan moments after the race come to a conclusion
Lewis Hamilton, starting a 12th for Ferrari came home eighth, a slot ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Norris found himself starting in an unfavorable spot, seventh on the grid, due to Piastri’s initial crash. He had a single lap to capitalize against his competitor.
His goal was to secure pole position or a front-row start. However, he delivered a lukewarm lap, slightly ahead of Piastri. Verstappen, showcasing skill amid rain, completed his lap 1.122 seconds faster. The clear standout of the turbulent, two-hour, red-flagged qualifying session, ultimately defined the weekend’s narrative.
Norris blamed going out first for his relatively dilatory flying lap. I am not sure that 12 men good and true could have concurred with that explanation. Verstappen started only a touch further back in his own blaze to one-lap glory, the conditions barely having changed.
So there was the question hanging over Norris whether he could rise to the task before him in the race itself. Not enough conviction. In his last stint, he was not able to unleash any pyrotechnics – nobody did, though.
Verstappen will have to scale steep maths to clinch a fifth world title. It’s as hard as this for him: if he won all the remaining races and the three sprints, in Austin, Brazil and Qatar, he would score 199 points.
Third place in every race for Piastri would nearly be enough for him to hold on.
Marshals clear away the car of Oscar Piastri after the Australian crashed again in Baku
Have Red Bull turned a corner? They are going well. The package Red Bull used in Monza and here, as well as in Vegas, was introduced at Silverstone under Christian Horner, now departed team boss.
But tracks less favourable to Verstappen’s machinery await, so he is far from favourite for a season-crowning enthronement. But he is Max Verstappen, beware.
As for Piastri’s cameo following his bloomer on Saturday, he slipped down the field to 18th as the lights went out. He apparently anticipated the start, arrested his progress, and then stalled.
Fernando Alonso, behind the glued-to-the-spot Australian, had to divert his Aston Martin left so as to avoid running into the back of him.
Piastri then hit the hoardings at the left-hander fifth, locking up and going straight on, his race over a year on from winning here.
He watched most of the remainder of proceedings from behind a marshal’s catch-fence. It could have been plenty worse for him, as he put his feet up on the ledge.
