Azerbaijan GP: Verstappen leads Red Bull one-two in Baku after Ferrari engine failures

Max Verstappen led Sergio Perez to a Red Bull one-two at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix held on Sunday after Ferrari suffered a disastrous afternoon that saw both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz retire with engine failures.

After ending up on different strategies following the virtual safety car that was triggered by Sainz's retirement on lap nine, Verstappen and Leclerc looked set for another tight battle for victory, only for the other Ferrari to suffer the same fate when leading on lap 20.

From there it was a procession for Red Bull, with Perez, who led into the first corner after passing Leclerc off the line, unable to match Verstappen's pace on the Baku street circuit.

The victory sees Verstappen extend his world championship lead to 21 points, with Perez, who took an additional point for setting the fastest lap time, overtaking Leclerc for second, with the Monegasque a further 13 points back. In the constructors' championship, Red Bull's lead over Ferrari grows to 80 points.

George Russell maintained his record of finishing in the top five at every race in his debut season at Mercedes as he secured another podium, while team-mate Lewis Hamilton battled through back pain caused by his bouncing car to climb to fourth.

Pierre Gasly was fifth for AlphaTauri, with Sebastian Vettel in sixth for Aston Martin. Both Alpine drivers scored points with Fernando Alonso seventh and Esteban Ocon 10th, while Daniel Ricciardo came out on top of a race-long duel with McLaren team-mate Lando Norris to finish a place ahead of the Brit in eighth.

As if seeing their own cars retire was not bad enough, there were also what appeared to be engine-related retirements for the Ferrari-powered cars of Haas' Kevin Magnussen and Alfa Romeo's Zhou Gunayu.

The outcome saw Leclerc fail to convert pole position to victory for a fourth successive race, with the Ferrari driver now having gone five races without a win, despite often appearing to have had enough speed to beat the Red Bulls.

It was Leclerc's second retirement from the lead with an engine failure in three races, with a strategy error in between in Monaco having seen him lose track position to the Red Bulls there.

Leclerc's hopes of ending the streak on Sunday were immediately dented as he was passed by Perez off the line, and he very nearly lost another place to Verstappen after a heavy lock-up at the first corner.

Despite the Red Bull's greater straight-line speed, Leclerc was able to hold Verstappen off in the early stages, until a hydraulic failure for Sainz on lap nine saw his Ferrari team-mate opt to pit under virtual safety car conditions, appearing to shift him to a two-stop strategy.

Verstappen stayed out and quickly closed down Perez to take the lead, with the Mexican ordered by the team not to "fight" his clearly faster team-mate. Perez's lack of pace was somewhat surprising following a brilliant performance to win in Monaco last time and an impressive showing throughout practice and qualifying in Baku.

Leclerc regained the lead when Verstappen pitted on lap 18, with their differing strategies appearing to set up an intriguing battle. However, just two laps later, smoke began to blow from the back of the Ferrari engine, leaving the distraught driver to make his way to the pits.

From there, Verstappen comfortably extended his advantage over Perez, with a later virtual safety car caused by Magnussen's retirement giving Red Bull the opportunity to stop both cars for fresh tyres, as they eliminated the chance of a repeat of last year's race when a tyre failure saw the Dutchman retire from a commanding lead.

© Sky Sports F1