Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. were unable to hide their disappointment after both Ferrari drivers retired from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with mechanical issues.
Leclerc had started Sunday’s race on pole although he was overtaken at the first corner by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, but an early pit-stop set up an intriguing tactical battle between the frontrunners.
However, on lap 20 of 51, while back in the lead of the race, Leclerc’s power unit went up in smoke prematurely ending the Monegasque’s afternoon.
Max Verstappen went onto win at the Baku City Circuit, as Perez completed a Red Bull 1-2, with the Dutchman extending his championship lead over Leclerc to 34 points.
‘I don’t have the full picture about what happened today, but it hurts,’ Leclerc told Sky Sports after his retirement.
‘We really need to look into that so it doesn’t happen again. I don’t find the right words to describe it – it is very disappointing.
‘We have been fast at the start of the season without big problems, and we have made changes for the better. It’s difficult to understand. I don’t know what went wrong.’
Over the course of a lap, Ferrari seem to have the edge over Red Bull, but poor race strategy and reliability issues have again cost the Scuderia valuable points this season, and after Azerbaijan the Italian team are whopping 80 points behind their closest rival in the constructors’ standings.
Sainz Jr. was running fourth when his hydraulics failed on lap nine and after a third retirement in six races, the Spaniard was understandably dejected in his post-race interview.
He said: ‘It was a big shame because I had taken a lot of care with my tyres in the opening laps and I was about to start pushing and move towards the front and as soon as this happened my hydraulics went.
‘A bad day for the team but we need to make sure people stay positive because better days will come. But this 2022 season is definitely not going my way.’
Despite his quick car, Sainz Jr. is only fifth in the standings, behind Verstappen, Perez, Leclerc and even Mercedes’ George Russell.
It was a miserable weekend all round for Ferrari, as not only did their two cars fail to finish, but both the Ferrari powered Alfa Romeo of Guanyu Zhou, and Haas of Kevin Magnussen also retired with mechanical issues.
‘I’ve been pretty good in terms of reliability on my side we’ve just been terribly unlucky all season and it’s been quite difficult to get any kind of momentum going this season,’ Sainz Jr. added.
‘I cannot do two consecutive races without anything happening. I need laps to keep understanding the car. It’s a shame but we are a team, and we are going to stay united and stay positive.’
MORE : Max Verstappen hails ‘incredible’ Red Bull car after comfortable win at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
MORE : George Russell pleased with Mercedes progress despite ‘disappointment’ over lack of race win
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