Baku (AFP)

Abandonment of Verstappen, 15th place for Hamilton, Pérez winner for the first time with Red Bull, Vettel and Gasly on the podium: the GP of Azerbaijan again delivered on Sunday a surreal scenario but without impact at the top of F1.

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Verstappen and Hamilton empty-handed

Arriving in Baku, at the end of a triumphant Monaco GP for Max Verstappen and complicated for Mercedes (Lewis Hamilton 7th, retirement for Valtteri Bottas), the gap at the top of the drivers' standings between the Dutchman of Red Bull and the sevenfold British world champion was 4 units.

Nothing changed when they left the Azerbaijani capital, neither of them scoring any points (the first dropped out after a crash, while leading with five laps to go, the second was 15th because of a piloting error in the penultimate loop, while he was trying to take first place).

Not enough, however, to threaten the two favorites for the title: their first pursuer, the Mexican winner Sergio Pérez, is 36 lengths from Verstappen and 32 from Hamilton.

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. First for Pérez and Red Bull

Arrived at Red Bull this winter, Pérez benefited from a combination of circumstances to win, he recognizes it easily ("I'm sorry for Max, he should have won"). This second success in F1 (after the GP of Sakhir, in Bahrain, last year with Racing Point) is no less welcome. He shows that after six races in his new team, the Mexican "progresses". “My confidence grows,” as the understanding with the team, ”he said.“ I see no reason not to be able to replicate this performance on other tracks. ”In a structure dedicated to Verstappen and prompt to get rid of his second drivers if they do not give satisfaction, having won when the leader was on the mat could also act as life insurance.

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Thinning for Vettel and Aston Martin

Passed from Ferrari to Aston Martin in the offseason after a frustrating last year in red (only one podium in Turkey behind Hamilton and ... Pérez), Sebastian Vettel "took longer (than he would have liked) ) to adapt". In Monaco a fortnight ago, he had already shown signs of improvement by entering the Top 10 for the first time (5th). This time, a staggered strategy, with a late change of tires, allowed him to move up from 11th place on the grid to second place in the final, an "unexpected" podium. "I always thought that things would end up falling into place at some point," assures the four-time world champion 2010-2013, but not necessarily so. He is therefore "on a little cloud" after his "difficult start".

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Gasly continues on his way

The story of Pierre Gasly (3rd) is now known: after starting at Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri) in 2017, he was promoted to Red Bull in 2019 ... and demoted the same season for lack of results.

Back in the Italian team, he flourishes again, signs a first podium (2nd) in Brazil that year and wins in Italy (the first French victory in F1 since 1996) the following one.

The Baku podium is his third and it is "incredible" because unexpected for a team whose objective is the Top 10, not the Top 3. "Incredible" also because the Frenchman had to fight tooth and nail at the end for defend against Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 4th, and Briton Lando Norris (McLaren), 5th, better armed than him.

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The tires involved

On lap 30, the Canadian Lance Stroll lost control of his Aston Martin and crashed into the safety barriers at high speed.

Lap 46, the same thing happens to Verstappen.

The two pilots come out unscathed but the reason for their crashes questions.

Everything seems to indicate that one of their tires has failed.

It did not take more to revive the recurring controversy over the quality - and safety - of Pirelli tires.

The Red Bull staff raised concerns with the race management during the GP and several drivers expressed the same feeling during the race.

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The season continues with the French GP, on the Paul Ricard du Castellet circuit (Var / Sud), from June 18 to 20.

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