“Did I leave the magic on?”– Lewis Hamilton loses the chance to regain his dominance in the championship, slipping away literally and figuratively.
Max Verstappen had the most unfortunate end to his quest in Azerbaijan; the 23-year-old race driver’s hard compound tyres deceived him and forcing a crash on the straight before turn 1.
The devastated Verstappen marched off from the circuit to the paddock, while his team couldn’t believe what happened. But this was the time for Lewis Hamilton to regain his lead in the drivers’ championship by remaining at his position.
Red Bull concerned with the dangers the old tires posed on the track, as Verstappen’s crash was totally identical to Lance Stroll’s, asked FIA to raise the red flags citing the issue.
The standing start from the red flags promised him more, as he could gain on Sergio Perez for the final two laps of the race, but Azerbaijan had some twists to offer.
Lewis Hamilton slips away.
During the restart, Hamilton seemed to have a better start than Perez, but as turn 1 approached, all the cars steered in the right direction except Hamilton.
Whose brakes looked to have no control, maybe due to the overhead, and he straight dropped to the 15th position. Ironically, Verstappen got the fastest lap point for his 44th lap timing, meaning he further added into his lead despite not completing the race.
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Meanwhile, with Perez keeping his P1, he extended Red Bull’s lead over Mercedes in the constructors’ table by 26 points.
