Sergio Perez beats Max Verstappen to victory in intense Red Bull contest – rezal404
Nyck de Vries stops on the track, Max Verstappen comes in before the safety car and loses time
Nyck de Vries stops on the track, Max Verstappen comes in before the safety car and loses time
Sergio Perez produced a flawless drive to beat Max Verstappen to victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after an intense battle between the Red Bull team-mates.
After both Red Bulls made light work of passing the Ferrari of pole-sitter Charles Leclerc – who finished third – in the opening stages, an early Safety Car caused by Nyck de Vries crashing enabled Perez to leapfrog Verstappen as both made pit stops.
Red Bull pitted Verstappen, who was under heavy pressure from Perez, while De Vries was stranded on the track, but the Safety Car being sent out moments later meant Perez gained timed – and the lead – when he stopped a lap later.
The victory reignites Perez’s hopes of denying Verstappen a third successive drivers’ title, with the dominant RB19 appearing to be in league of its own in 2023, with the pair having now claimed two victories apiece across the first four races of the season.
Perez, who also won Saturday’s Sprint as Formula 1 debuted its new format for 2023, now trails Verstappen by just six points going into next weekend’s Miami Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso make overtakes after safety car restart at the Azerbaijan GP
Despite having taken a stunning pole on Friday – and on Saturday for the Sprint – Leclerc was never expected to be able to compete with the Red Bulls on Sunday, and produced a strong drive to keep Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso behind him to claim a first podium of the season.
Carlos Sainz completed an improved weekend for Ferrari by finishing fifth, ahead of Lewis Hamilton who recovered from losing several places when pitting before the early Safety Car to take sixth.
Lance Stroll got away with making significant contact with the wall with his Aston Martin to take seventh ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, whose early progress was ruined by a poor restart after the Safety Car.
Lewis Hamilton capitalizes on a Lance Stroll mistake to move into sixth position at the Azerbaijan GP
Lando Norris, who like Hamilton lost places after pitting early, fought back and to finish ninth for McLaren, while Yuki Tsunoda finished in the points for a second successive race by taking 10th for AlphaTauri.
Azerbaijan GP Race Result
1) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
2) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
3) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
4) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
5) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
6) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
7) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
8) George Russell, Mercedes
9) Lando Norris, McLaren
10) Yuki Tsunoda, Alpha Tauri
More to follow…
