Perez solidifies title as the king of street circuits in Baku
Monday, 1 May 2023
Sergio Perez storms to a sprint race win and rides his luck to win the Grand Prix proper, as Red Bull Racing score their third 1-2 in four races this season in an unusually subdued race in Baku.
Red Bull Racing's Sergio Perez took his sixth F1® victory – and became the first driver to win more than once in Azerbaijan – by making the most of a fortuitous safety car intervention to leapfrog teammate Max Verstappen to take victory in Baku.
The Mexican was running second to Verstappen when Scuderia AlphaTauri's Nyck De Vries crashed on lap 10, the race leader electing to pit as the incident was initially covered under waved yellow flags. When a safety car was subsequently called, Perez pitted and emerged ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Verstappen with the field neutralised, and was never headed after racing resumed four laps later en route to a 2.1-second victory over his teammate, Red Bull's third 1-2 this season in four races.
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Perez also won Saturday's first sprint race of the season, held over 17 laps, after passing pole-sitter Leclerc on lap eight. The Ferrari driver finished second in the Sprint and a distant third in Sunday's Grand Prix to score more points in two days (22) than he had in the first three Grands Prix of the season (six).
Oscar Piastri finished 11th in Baku after starting 10th, finishing frustratingly close to the top-10 points-paying positions after battling a stomach bug all weekend.
In a heavily-revised MCL60 that came with plenty of upgrades after McLaren's slow start to the season, Piastri qualified 10th, finished 10th and two places outside the points in the Sprint, and came home 11th on Sunday, stuck behind AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda after making an early pit stop before the De Vries-prompted safety car.
Piastri's teammate Lando Norris salvaged two points on a largely underwhelming weekend for McLaren by finishing ninth, the team retaining its fifth place in the constructors' standings.
Unsung hero
In an Azerbaijan race unusually short on drama, Alpine's Esteban Ocon at least kept things interesting in the midfield by starting from the pit lane on hard tyres and hoping for a timely safety car intervention to luck his way into some points. The Frenchman spent 38 of the 51 laps in ninth place behind the drivers from the four fastest teams (Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin), but his goal-hanging didn't bear fruit as he pitted with a lap remaining and plummeted to 15th at the flag. From where he started, it was a long shot, but worth a go …
Number to know
200: Verstappen (108) and Perez (92) have combined to lead for 200 laps so far this season; the rest of the field combined have led for 16 total laps as Red Bull have won the first four races of a season for the first time in their 19-year history.
I think it was very close between us … we both clipped the wall a few times. The way Max pushed me throughout the race was really hard but we managed to keep him under control.
Azerbaijan Grand Prix: top 10
1. Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) 1hr 32mins 42.436secs
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) + 2.137secs
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +21.217secs
4. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +22.024secs
5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +45.491secs
6. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +46.145secs
7. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +51.617secs
8. George Russell (Mercedes) +74.240secs
9. Lando Norris (McLaren) +80.376secs
10. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) +83.862secs
Standings (top 5)
Drivers' championship
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 93 points
2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) 87 points
3. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 60 points
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 48 points
5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 34 points
Constructors' championship
1. Red Bull Racing (180 points)
2. Aston Martin (87 points)
3. Mercedes (76 points)
4. Ferrari (62 points)
5. McLaren (14 points)
Next race
Round 5: USA (Miami), May 5-7
