Once the stage in Azerbaijan has been shelved, there is no respite for the Formula 1 circus, already looking forward to the next round of the World Championship, next Sunday in Sepang. The Malaysian track was chosen as a replacement venue for the Bahrain GP, which could not be held in Sakhir last April due to the conflict between the USA and Iran, and will thus return to welcome Formula 1 after nine years. An additional problem for the drivers, even more so for those who, like the Ferrari drivers, will try to get back upstream after the difficult weekend in Azerbaijan. Kimi Antonelli has already anticipated redemption intentions and wants to immediately thwart a possible comeback attempt by George Russell.
The Bolognese's 66-point advantage is more than solid, but the eighth career victory obtained in Baku, after taking pole and the fastest lap, has rekindled the Briton's confidence in finally being able to exploit the full potential of Mercedes, as only Antonelli had done so far. In the meantime, Ferrari seems to have abdicated, between errors and reduced performance of the development steps, the role of Mercedes' main rival, even if the constructors' championship ranking says otherwise. The last podium for the Reds dates back to mid-July when the ray of hope lit for the title for Hamilton had already died out, and since then McLaren and Red Bull have always taken every place on the podium vacated by the Mercedes, showing an upward trend in performance, while that of the Scuderia has remained flat.
"We maximized the result," Leclerc said after the race, explaining that the SF-26 had "a constant but insufficient pace" to keep up with its rivals. Starting from the front row had given the Monegasque confidence, but he was immediately overtaken by Oscar Piastri and the Red Bulls and was no longer able to fight for the podium. "It wasn't the weekend we wanted, a lot of effort with the tyres", summarized an increasingly taciturn Hamilton, while the team principal, Fred Vasseur, also annoyed by the rumors of Christian Horner's self-candidacy, tries to get some answers from the technicians to straighten things out a little.
The complicated Baku circuit was not the one best suited to Ferrari's characteristics, but Sepang also risks posing new problems even if surprises are around the corner as never before this season. Certainly, in Maranello they will have to start worrying about the challenge launched by Red Bull, who despite Max Verstappen's often scathing and angry criticisms seem to be able to have their say in the final phase of the championship, even more so with Isack Hadjar's brilliant return after his wrist injury. The Dutchman hasn't won a race for a while and will do everything he can to not end the season without climbing onto the top step, something that has never happened to him since he arrived at Red Bull.
Among the less appreciable waste of the Azerbaijani race stands out the storm of insults and homophobic insults directed by Franco Colapinto's fans at Lando Norris, guilty of having pointed the finger at the Argentine for the risky maneuver that put both of them out of action, together with the other Alpine driver, Pierre Gasly. It is not known whether Flavio Briatore, boss of the French team, has ended up in the haters' sights, so furious with his driver that an upcoming divorce is not considered impossible.
