Verstappen fourth in World Championship after four races

Gasly's charge for Pit Lane blunted by late retirement

Red Bull cars lead Q1 and Q2 qualifying sessions

Max Verstappen continued his steady start to the 2019 Formula 1 World Championship Sunday, posting his fourth consecutive top-four result with a fourth-place finish in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.

Gasly's celebration was short-lived however, as he had incurred a penalty in practice that forced him to start from Pit Lane. Verstappen went on to lead the Honda-powered drivers by earning the fourth starting spot while Daniil Kvyat piloted his Toro Rosso Honda to the sixth position on the grid.

Verstappen benefitted from a strong middle stint, turning some of the fastest laps of the race to pass Charles Leclerc's Ferrari during pit stops, allowing the Dutchman to finish fourth for the third consecutive week. His streak of four straight top-four runs makes Verstappen the first Honda driver since Gerhard Berger in 1992 to compile such a streak.

Gasly threatened to make his own news on Sunday, rebounding from starting on Pit Lane to run a solid sixth in the late stages of the race. Unfortunately, the young Frenchman fell victim to a drivetrain problem in the final laps and ended up with a DNF.

Kvyat's run of bad luck multiplied when Daniel Ricciardo backed into his stopped Toro Rosso Honda, eventually putting an end to his day. Kvyat had stopped to avoid Ricciardo's sliding car, and was hit as the Renault tried to return to the circuit. Alex Albon showed well after starting 11th, running near the points for much of the day before settling for 11th in the final order.

Toyoharu Tanabe

Technical Director, Honda F1

'Our primary aim today was to get all four of our cars to the finish with our new Spec 2 ICE, therefore it was a shame that two of them had to retire. Daniil was very unlucky to retire because of an accident that was not his fault and it's a shame that Alex finished where he started, as it is just one place outside the points.'

'On the positive side, our Spec 2 ICE ran trouble free on its first race weekend, which is a good sign. We will now analyze all the data and work closely with our teams as we prepare for the next race, the Spanish Grand Prix.'

Max Verstappen

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing

Start: 5th, Finish: 4th

'In general we had a good race. I always had the Mercedes and Ferrari in sight and I was just trying to close the gap. At the start I was blocked and couldn't really brake deep into the corner, which allowed (Sergio) Perez to get past me. Of course, that lost me a bit of ground but you don't want to risk everything on Lap 1. Once I got back past, we went a little bit longer than the others on the soft tire and I had a good feeling with the car. We had good pace, especially on the medium tire in the second stint where I closed the gap by seven or eight seconds. The performance in Barcelona will of course depend on the upgrades that everyone is bringing but hopefully we can be even more competitive and close the gap even further.'

Pierre Gasly

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing

Start: Pit Lane (20th), Finish: DNF

'This weekend has been a lot better than the first three races. I felt better with the car and I've been able to drive more the way I want to. In qualifying I managed to show some good performance with a good lap in Q1. In the race, starting from the pit lane, we knew it would be tricky to fight at the front but we had a car fast enough to come back and score good points. Things in the race went pretty well and we got to P6 but unfortunately we didn't make it to the end as I had a driveshaft failure. Overall, I'm adapting myself and we're going in the right direction.'

Alex Albon

Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda

Start: 11th, Finish: 11th

'Finishing just outside of the points isn't what I wanted. I had an OK start, I got a bit boxed in and went in the wrong gaps and at the wrong time, then I touched the wall on the exit of Turn 1 so I was a bit cautious into the next couple of corners. After that, our pace was decent but I think we stayed out too long and lost some time. We fell behind the whole pack after we pitted, and the problem is that everyone is so close in the midfield that we needed a bigger pace advantage than we had to make up some ground. At the end, I was able to make a few overtakes and I had some fun out there, that's the main thing!'

Daniil Kvyat

Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda

Start: 6th, Finish: DNF

'It wasn't the best of days as we had to retire the car through no fault of our own, but these things happen in racing. I have no issue with Daniel (Ricciardo), he recognized his mistake and we now turn the page. Of course, I was a bit disappointed in the moment as I thought we could have scored a point, but there's not much you can do about it. Yesterday, our car was great in Qualifying, but we struggled with some tire management today, so we'll investigate to understand why and just move on to the next race. We have a strong package and I'm sure our time will come.'

Photo credit: Honda
posted on conceptcarz.com

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