Sergio Pérez remains king of the streets

NewsTimeMedia April 30, 2023
F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan
Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images

Sergio Pérez grabs the victory in Azerbaijan as Red Bull finishes 1-2

Red Bull’s dominance continued on Sunday, as Sergio Pérez held off teammate Max Verstappen for the win in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who started on pole position, managed to fend off Fernando Alonso for the first podium of the season for the Scuderia.

But Leclerc could not hold off the Bulls. The Ferrari driver was able to hold the lead for the first two laps, but once DRS was enabled on Lap 3, both Verstappen and then Pérez managed to overtake Leclerc, leaving the Ferrari driver in third and putting the pair of Red Bulls to the front.

Pérez caught the break he needed around ten laps into the race. Verstappen, like the bulk of the field, began the Grand Prix on the medium compound. He reported that he was starting to lose grip on the track, so the decision was made for him to pit and change tyres at the end of Lap 10.

Unfortunately for Verstappen, after his stop a safety car was deployed after Nyck de Vries slid off the track. That allowed the rest of the field — save for Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg — to execute pit stops under advantageous conditions.

Ocon and Hulkenberg, who both started on pit lane after making changes to their cars overnight, stayed out in hopes of a later safety car.

After the pit stops cycled through, Pérez was back in front with Leclerc and Verstappen behind him in P2 and P3, respectively. Shortly after the restart, Verstappen was able to overtake the Ferrari in front of him, but he could never get around his teammate, as Pérez became the first driver in F1 history to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for a second time. Pérez scored a win at Baku in 2021.

For the team, that makes it three 1-2 finishes in four races for Red Bull. While Ferrari seemed to close the gap a bit this weekend — with Leclerc grabbing the team’s first podium of the season and Carlos Sainz Jr. finishing in fifth — the Bulls are still the class of the field.

What makes this race fascinating is that it might offer the first indication that a true fight is on between Pérez and Verstappen for the Drivers’ Championship. Both drivers have a pair of wins to their credit this season and Pérez’s other victory — in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix — came when Verstappen started 15th. On this day, however, the two both began up front, but Pérez was able to hold off his teammate thanks to a bit of luck, and his tremendous still on the streets.

Is that something that can be maintained over the rest of the season, or will Verstappen maintain his place ahead of Pérez? Just six points separate the drivers at the moment, with Verstappen sitting on 87 points, and Pérez behind him on 79.

We will get some quick answers to those questions, as the grid heads to South Beach for next weekend’s Miami Grand Prix.

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