BAKU, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Red Bull’s four-time champion MaxVerstappen, fresh from a last-to-first karting triumph, will be looking to keep that winning feeling going by chalking up a first Formula One victory of the year at this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Dutchman took just 14 laps and 35 minutes to scythe through a field of 100 competitors at Red Bull’s "Max vs. 100" karting challenge at Britain’s Silverstone last week. That may have been nothing more than a fun exhibition event for the 71-times grand prix winner, who jokingly pointed out that it was his first win of the season. But after six podium appearances, four in the last five races, and a second-place finish in Madrid Azerbaijan’s Baku street circuit could set the stage for Verstappen to break his victory duck for the year and become the venue’s first triple winner. “Madrid was a good result for us and the team has been working hard on taking this positive momentum to make sure we maximise the performance of the car in Baku,” said the 28-year-old. “We've made some good steps with the car over the last few races and we have some good memories here,” he added. The Baku street track, a 6-km-long mix of flat-out blasts and tight corners, has a reputation for unpredictable races. Seven different drivers have won the nine races at the venue, with Verstappen and former Mexican team mate Sergio Perez the only two to have won there more than once. With safety cars a regular feature of the race, Verstappen’s victory hopes may well rest on Red Bull’s ability to take on the might of Mercedes.The team’s runaway championship leader Kimi Antonelli heads into the weekend gunning for a third straight win and ninth of the season. The 20-year-old Italian, who won his home race at Monza from the back of the grid and followed that up with victory in the Spanish Grand Prix at the Madring, is 81 points clear of Briton George Russell, his team mate and closest title rival, after 14 rounds. Russell and third-placed Ferrari rival Lewis Hamilton have both ruled themselves out of realistic title contention.
ANTONELLI CLOSING ON TITLE A win in Baku would only tighten Antonelli’s grip on the championship and move his prospect of becoming the first Italian to win a Formula One title since Alberto Ascari in 1953 further into the realm of when rather than if. McLaren’s reigning champion Lando Norris, meanwhile, will be fired up to make up for the win that got away from him. The Briton had been leading comfortably from pole in Madrid and seemed on course for his third win from four races when an ill-timed virtual safety car went against him. He eventually had to settle for third. French racer Isack Hadjar will return to action alongside Verstappen after recovering from a wrist injury that sidelined him for the last three races.Yuki Tsunodais set to step back into his reserve role. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the first of a "triple header" of races on consecutive weekends, is being run on Saturday this year with the country marking its Remembrance Day on Sunday. Organisers are also celebrating a "Decade of Racin" in Baku, with the race joining the Formula One calendar in 2016 as the European Grand Prix. This year’s race will be the 10th around the Baku street track, with the event left off the calendar during the COVID pandemic in 2020.
(Reporting by Abhishek Takle in Baku; editing by Ed Osmond)
