Charles Leclerc retired from the Grand Prix of Azerbaijan on Sunday with a large cloud of smoke from his Ferrari. The Monegask gave up on lap 20 after his bike gave up the ghost. Max Verstappen, who was in the lead at the time, can greatly increase his World Cup lead with the victory.
Leclerc was in the lead at the time of his retirement after taking advantage of a virtual safety car situation. That was caused by a retirement from his teammate Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard had to give up after eight laps due to a hydraulic problem.
With 125 points, Verstappen was 9 points ahead of Leclerc before the start of the race. Sergio Pérez could also get past the Ferrari driver if he keeps the second place he was driving at the time of Leclerc’s retirement.
Ferrari could start packing after the double outage. The next race is already next weekend. Formula 1 will then return to Montreal, Canada after a two-year absence.