Max Verstappen takes control of F1 title race at Azerbaijan GP as BOTH Ferraris fail to finish and Mercedes capitalise

MAX VERSTAPPEN took the chequered flag in Baku as Ferrari endured another nightmare weekend and Lewis Hamilton was left grabbing his back in pain.

After throwing away the win in Monaco last time out they saw Red Bull secure a one-two finish, with Sergio Perez coming home in P2.

Max Verstappen coasted to victory in Baku

Lewis Hamilton held his back in pain after finishing the race

The Brit driver was heard saying “my back is killing me” on the team radio during the race

And after struggling all weekend with severe bouncing problems, Ferrari’s reliability issues helped Mercedes capitalise for P3 and P4.

George Russell kept up his record of finishing fifth or higher in every single race of the season to take the final place on the podium.

The Brit driver came home one position in front of teammate Hamilton, who struggled with back pain throughout the race due to persistent bouncing.

Hamilton was filmed clambering out his car very gingerly when he came to a stop, and walked back to the Merc garage with a hand on his back.

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The seven-time world champ admitted this weekend he was in physical pain behind the wheel due to the bouncing, and he was picked up on the team radio during the race saying: “My back is killing me.”

Team principal Toto Wolff apologised to Hamilton after the race for the physical pain he was in at the finish.

The Merc boss said: “We all know that this a bit of a **** box to drive at the moment. And sorry for the back also. We will sort ourselves out, well driven.”

Meanwhile it was a power unit failure that did it for Leclerc this time around after he gave up the lead to Perez at the start of the race.

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His teammate Sainz that was first to go on lap nine, before Leclerc followed suit 11 laps later.

From there Verstappen and Perez cruised to a one-two finish, and Russell and Hamilton followed suit.

Behind the Red Bull’s and Mercedes’ Pierre Gasly took P5 for AlphaTauri with an impressive drive, ahead of Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) and Fernando Alonso (Alpine).

McLaren duo Daniel Ricciardio and Lando Norris followed in P8 and P9 respectively, while Esteban Ocon (Alpine) rounded off the points.

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