Motorsport News 10/06/21

The streets of Baku are unforgiving, and they generally throw up excellent grands prix, which they delivered again on Sunday. It was hard not to feel sorry for Max Verstappen, who had what would have been a well-earned victory snatched from him when his left-rear Pirelli failed. That should have given Lewis Hamilton the perfect chance to snatch back the lead of the World championship, but the maestro erred too when he locked up at the frenetic two-lap restart and slid straight on at the opening turn. Through all of the mayhem came Red Bull-Honda’s second driver Sergio Perez to land his second Formula 1 career victory, proving the worth of the Milton Keynes team’s decision to opt for a more sensible head in the second seat rather than taking a punt on…

It was a remarkable climax to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as the top two drivers in the World championship were both eliminated from the lead of the race. Both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton left the streets of Baku last Sunday night with zero points. One because of a high-speed puncture and the other due to a braking issue. Five laps from the chequered flag, Verstappen was set for a comfortable victory, having executed a brilliant drive from third on the grid. But heading to the line to start his 47th lap, he suffered a left-rear blow out that instantly speared his Red Bull into the wall at speeds approaching 200mph.After he had safety extricated himself from the car, he walked around to look at the mangled Pirelli rubber that had…

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has admitted the last two races have been his “toughest” as team principal. The Brackley-based team has been off the pace compared to championship rival Red Bull and has lost podium finishes in both Monaco and Baku. “It feels painful,” said Wolff after both his cars failed to score for the first time since Austria 2018. “We had a hand close to the trophy because Max [Verstappen] didn’t score, but the emotion of frustration is overwhelming at the moment. We must bring our A game to fight for this championship. “Our car was not there all weekend and operationally we need to perform faultless and all of us haven’t done that in the last two weekends. Most of us feel destroyed to be honest.” Hamilton finished 15th in Baku after…

Baku podium finisher Sebastian Vettel has called for an investigation into the two high-speed tyre failures that occurred during the Azerbaijan GP. Vettel’s Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll crashed on lap 31 of the race when his left-rear suffered a puncture. “I don’t know why, but this is not supposed to happen,” said second-placed Vettel, who scored Aston Martin’s first-ever podium in Baku. “There needs to be an investigation because it’s probably the worst place of the year to have this and I was a bit concerned.” Stroll started on the hard Pirelli tyre and was running fourth when the incident occurred. A cut was also found afterwards on Hamilton’s left-rear. “The FIA, Pirelli and the teams will do a full investigation,” said race director Michael Masi. “We’ll be gathering data and available…

World champion Lewis Hamilton has promised to regroup after a chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix during which he slithered down and escape road and failed to capitalise on a retirement from main rival Max Verstappen. Hamilton accidentally knocked a brake bias switch in the cockpit of his Mercedes as the field approached the first corner of a two-lap restart of the race in Baku. Hamilton went straight on down an escape road and could only recover to finish 15th while Red Bull’s Sergio Perez held on to win. It was the second race in a row where Mercedes have struggled but a tyre failure for Max Verstappen late on in the event means that Hamilton is still only four points adrift of his Dutch rival in the chase for this year’s crown. Hamilton explained:…

Mansour Ojjeh, a major shareholder in McLaren and a figure in the team for almost 40 years, died aged 68 in the build-up to last weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Saudi businessman joined forces with Ron Dennis in 1984 and bought into the McLaren team, just on the cusp of a huge period of success for the British squad. While Ojjeh was at the helm, McLaren had its most successful spell, including winning 15 out of 16 grands prix in 1988. Ojjeh had stepped back from his direct involvement in McLaren after a double lung transplant in 2013. McLaren head Zak Brown said: “Mansour was a true racer in every sense. Ultra-competitive, determined, passionate and, above all, perhaps his defining characteristic: sporting. No matter the intensity of the battle, Mansour always put sport…