F1: Perez over Verstappen for a Red Bull 1-2 in Baku GP

–by Mark Cipolloni–

As he did on Saturday in the Sprint race, Sergio Perez managed the gap to his teammate perfectly and won the Azerbaijan GP by 2.1s over Max Verstappen.

Perez took advantage of a timely Pace Car to jump ahead of his teammate Max Verstappen, and he never let the Dutchman get within DRS zone the rest of the way to complete a perfectly driven weekend to close the point gap to just 6 points behind his teammate.

Verstappen said he had run out of tire life in the last ten laps to attack his teammate.

“It really worked out today for us, we managed to keep the pressure on Max as we had better degradation on that first stint,” said a happy Perez, a F1 winner for the 6th time.

“I think it was very close between us, we pushed to the maximum today, we both hit the wall a few times, but we managed to keep [Verstappen] under control.”

It was another 1-2 for Red Bull as they remain undefeated in 2023.

With Verstappen pitting under yellow flags brought out when Nyck de Vries stopped on track, and Perez coming in under a Safety Car that followed, the Mexican cleared his teammate and rejoined the action in the lead.

Verstappen fell to third, meaning he had to overtake Leclerc for a second time. After dusting off the Ferrari quickly, he could not make inroads on Perez during the run to the checkered flag and had to settle for second.

“The Safety Car was a bit unlucky, the tires were overheating and also the balance, I was struggling and once I got that sorted I was quite good again in the last ten laps,” said Verstappen.

“We know it’s a very long season, you keep learning – it can never be perfect all the time.”

“Sergio had a sensational weekend, he’s always been outstanding at this track,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner.

“He got a little lucky with the Safety Car, but he converted that, he pulled the gap and managed the race. Checo today, hats off to him – he did a super job.”

Charles Leclerc held off Fernando Alonso for third, the first podium for Ferrari in 2023, but 21 seconds behind the Red Bulls.

“They [Red Bull] are in another league once it comes to the race,” said Leclerc.

“Over 51 laps it was not possible, they have so much more pace than we do. Everyone is working flat out to understand what we can do in the races to close the gap.”

Carlos Sainz held off Lewis Hamilton in the 2nd Ferrari to round out the top-5.

Hamilton was followed by the Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Stroll.

Lando Norris finished in P8 ahead of George Russell in P9.

AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda took the last points position – P10.

George Russell made a late stop for soft tires and grabbed the extra bonus point for fastest lap.

Perez, unable to hide his beaming smile on the podium. Four races in, and he has two wins to his name and in what is increasing looking a two horse race, has really raised his game and taken the fight to his teammate.

But Baku is a track where he often goes well – can he keep this form going once the European swing kicks in?

So, not the most action-packed race after a rather frantic weekend as a whole, but still an enjoyable one that sees the drama ramp up at Red Bull.

How long will they let their drivers race?

There doesn’t seem to be too much tension between Perez and Verstappen just yet, but if the Mexican can keep up this form, you’d imagine that might change.

As for the rest, Ferrari getting back into the mix is only a good thing, with the fight to be ‘best of the rest’ between the Scuderia, Aston Martin and Mercedes also one that should be a good watch.

Bear in mind that Mercedes have those big upgrades coming in Imola – how much further forward can that jump them? Into Red Bull territory, or just ahead of their current rivals?

Next weekend the F1 circus is in Miami for the second ever time, and then there is one week off before the first triple-header of the season.

Imola, Monaco and Spain will see all the big upgrade packages too, which could shuffle the order.

Race Results

* Provisional results. Note – Russell scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.