#Perez passes Leclerc for sprint race win

[f1]

Perez passes Leclerc for sprint race win Verstappen third in damaged car | 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Sergio Perez https://www.racefans.net/wp-admin/post.php?post=504479&action=editSergio Perez took victory in the sprint race for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after overtaking Charles Leclerc mid-way through the race and pulling away from the Ferrari driver. The Red Bull driver used DRS to pass Leclerc for the lead along the pit straight and then gradually opened up the gap to win by four seconds. Leclerc held off Max Verstappen for second place after the Red Bull driver suffered damaged from opening lap contact with George Russell. Leclerc lined up on pole position for the first sprint race of the season and when the lights went out the Ferrari leapt out into the lead of the race with Perez settling into second place behind. Verstappen came under pressure from George Russell behind with the Mercedes driver pulling ahead of the Red Bull on the run to turn three. Back in the pack, Yuki Tsunoda struck the barrier at the kink of turn 13, losing the tyre from his wheel. As the AlphaTauri recovered to the pits with damage, the Virtual Safety Car was deployed with the remains of Tsunoda’s tyre on the circuit on the entrance of turn 16. Tsunoda pitted and rejoined with his car still clearly damaged from his collision with the wall, earning an investigation from the stewards after the race for being released in an unsafe condition. With drivers complaining of debris on the track, the Virtual Safety Car was upgraded to a full Safety Car. The race restarted at the end of lap five, with Leclerc leading the field away from Perez, Russell and Verstappen. Russell was easily passed by Verstappen at the restart, the Red Bull diving to the inside into the first corner to move back into third. At the end of the first green flag lap, DRS was enabled for the first time in the race. Perez quickly began to put Leclerc under pressure out front and managed to slip by the Ferrari into the lead at the start of lap eight, before soon pulling clear of DRS range of the chasing Ferrari. Leclerc kept Perez’s lead to around a second until the leader began picking up the pace with around five laps remaining, building up his advantage to over three seconds. Verstappen pursued the Ferrari ahead of him, but despite sitting within a second of Leclerc he never got close enough to attempt a pass. Perez continued to eke out his advantage and ticked off the remaining laps to secure the victory by just over four seconds at the chequered flag. Leclerc finished six tenths of a second ahead of Verstappen in second place, with Russell a further three seconds behind in fourth. Carlos Sainz Jnr finished in fifth, ahead of Alonso, Hamilton and Lance Stroll claiming the final point in eighth place. Alexander Albon just missed out on points in ninth with Oscar Piastri completing the top ten. Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Browse all 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix articles via RaceFans - Independent Motorsport Coverage https://www.racefans.net/

[j0shm0]

2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - 63 Laps / 19 'Turns'

I took time out of night since we did not have a "FORMULA 1 MSC CRUISES GRAN PREMIO DEL MADE IN ITALY E DELL'EMILIA-ROMAGNA" in 2023 and went back to watch the 2022 Race to take down some notes about the race and atmosphere at that time.

Sprint Race Weekend (Format was FP1, Quali, FP2, Sprint Quali, Sprint Race, Race)

Sprint Podium (Max, Charles, Sergio)

In 2022 it was the 4th race of the year (Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Australia)

Top 3 Driver standings going into the weekend was Charles, George, Carlos (Max 6th)

Top 3 Driver Standing after the race weekend was Charles, Max, Sergio (only Schumacher, Hulkenberg, Latifi; no points)

Weather all weekend was cold and wet, race day was "Cloudy in a wet and drying track"

Tyre Selection was Inter/Wet, C4, C3, C2

Lewis Hamilton owns Lap Record with a 1:15 set in 2020

"championship leader Charles Leclerc on the front row next to Max Verstappen the world champion"

Max had Fuel System issues in Bahrain and Austraila allowing Charles to have 2 wins

The box on F1TV was Joylon Palmer and Will Buxton

Fastest Pit stop at this time was 2.27sec by RB in Australia

Pierre radio message in formation lap about rain in 20-25mins

Previous winners were Max - 2021, Hamilton- 2020, Schumacher - 2006, Alonso - 2005, Schumacher - 2004

No Imola race from 2007 - 2020 due to poor maintenance and legal battles

Mick Schumacher was the Logan Sargent of 2022 (finishing just outside points but people only talk about the impacts)

Checo and Lando jumped up to 2 and 3 on the start putting Charles in 4th

Daniel spun Carlos and beached him in the gravel of turn 2 (racing incident)

Mick dropped from 10th to 17th after getting spun by himself hitting a puddle on the strips heading into turn 3

Fernando got a whack in his right side pod early on and by lap 7 had a giant hole (Schumacher spun tapped)

Kmag being a defender forever, keeping George behind for multiple laps

By lap 20 everyone moved to the medium tyre; with Daniel down in 18th being the first to try it and say big gains

Esteban 5sec penalty for unsafe release during the pit stops

After pitting top 3 were Max, Perez, Charles

Lap 26 Mick was didn’t make a turn going against Latifi and went through the wet grass on slicks so he spun again

Yuki has been leading the Train in 9th for so long

Daniel pitted on lap 31 for Hard Tyre - could take him to the end if the rain stays away

DRS Enabled Lap 34 with drying track

Pierre putting on a mega defense to keep Lewis locked in 15th

Lap 38 Max was getting close to lapping people in 15th/14th/13th; Completed on Lap 41

Ferrari and Mclaren radio messages opting to stay on Medium Tyre from lap 20 pit O_O

Lando holding 4th with a 23sec gap to Charles in 3rd; Sebastian in 7th 17sec gap to Valterri

Lap 43 Exhaust bracket/valve piece from Latifis Williams could have lead to a safety car potentially

Leclerc pitted lap 50 for Soft Tyres O_O extra point fastest lap

LANDO FASTER AND TRYES COLD OUT OF THE PITS SO CHARLES COMES OUT IN 4th (swapped back following lap)

Perez Lap 51 Max Lap 52 also Soft Tyres since they had huge leads

Charles message lap 52 "Should have gone Mediums"

LAP 53 CHARLES HIT THE SAUSGE CURB IN TURN 15 and hit the wall; pitted for tyres and wing; dropped to 9th

Yuki also passed Sebastian and went up to 6th ^_^

Max, Sergio, Lando Podium; with Max lapping from Lance Stroll in 10th down to 18th

Starting Grid and Constructor standings (even left odd right as is on track)

Finishing position for Drivers and Constructors (1-10 Left/11-20 Right)

[boxboxblog]

2024 Interlagos GP

Wow. Wow wow wow wow wow.

What a race. This was by far the most exciting race we have had all year, and had some of the most incredible, and devastating, moments I have seen. This was a race to remember, and the drivers all showed they had guts driving around in. the incredible rain. Lets learn more.

Diving into the big story, Max Verstappen, driving one of the most incredible races I have ever seen, sprinted up from 17th to win the race. His mastery of wet conditions, the strategic gold from his team, and his cool head shined brilliantly, and I will say i think this was the greatest performance of his career.

We also saw incredible performances from Alpine, as both of their drivers were able to achieve podiums today. The car seemed to come alive in these wet conditions and Ocon and Gasly showed they had the skills. It was perfect harmony of car, driver, and pit wall, and It was beyond thrilling to see two midfielders up on the podium.

For all three of these podium winners, it was the red flag that helped massively. They were the only ones on the field that had not pit by the time the red flag came out, and so gained massive track position and were able to get fresh tires without officially pitting. This was a strategic gamble by both of their teams, and it struck gold.

Further back in the field, we got some great performances from Tsunoda and Leclerc. Tsunoda held onto a great points position, ending in 7th, and Leclerc, who has always struggled in the wet, kept McLaren's Lando Norris at bay in order to keep 5th position.

For overtakes, a majority of the great ones were done by Verstappen, Hamilton, and Lawson. We saw some brilliant fighting between Lawson and Perez, but ultimately the Red Bull driver finished in 11th, just shy of the points after he was passed by wet race star Lewis Hamilton, who himself had a tough race.

Now on to the more negative side. We had three drivers who crashed our had mechanical failures, and two who didn't even officially start the race. Normally I would talk about this in my winner and losers post, but there were so many it would take up too much room. Our DNFrs are Sainz, Colapinto, Hulkenberg, Albon, and Stroll. Touch conditions out there, tough for Albon whose damage from quali left him unable to start, tough in general.

Race Results:

Verstappen

Ocon

Gasly

Russell

Leclerc

Norris

Tsunoda

Piastri

Lawson

Hamilton

Perez

Bearman

Bottas

Alonso

Zhou

Sainz DNF

Colapinto DNF

Hulkenberg DNF

Albon DNF

Stroll DNF

Incredible race. I will go into more detail on certain drivers in my winners and losers post, which will come soon.

Cheers,

-B

[isawthesainz]

Race Recap 11: Austria

Sunday 30th June 2024

Build-Up:

On 24th June, it is revealed that Alpine has made an offer to Carlos Sainz in a bid to trump Audi and Williams

On 25th June, it is reported that Logan Sargeant is rumoured to have signed for Prema Racing in Indycar for 2025

Reports also suggest that Oliver Bearman will soon be announced as a Haas driver for 2025

On 26th June, rumours emerge that Liam Lawson could replace Daniel Ricciardo at VCARB at the end of July. Rumours also emerge that Liam Lawson is set to join Audi next year, as Helmut Marks confirms that Daniel Ricciardo will stay at VCARB until 2025

On 27th June, it is announced that Pierre Gasly has had signed a multi-year contract extension with Alpine

It is also announced that Lance Stroll has signed a contract extension with Aston Martin

In SQ3, Charles Leclerc is unable to set a lap time due to an issue with the anti-stall on his car when exiting the pit lane, and will start the Sprint Race from P10

Sprint Race Highlights:

The start of the race is aborted and an extra formation lap takes place, knocking one lap off the total race distance, due to photographers standing behind the barriers at Turn 1

On Lap 5, Lando Norris overtakes Max Verstappen for the lead of the race at Turn 3. By Turn 4, Verstappen retakes the lead and Oscar Piastri manages to pass his teammate for P2

Sprint Race Results:

1st Place: Max Verstappen

2nd Place: Oscar Piastri

3rd Place: Lando Norris

Race Highlights:

Yuki Tsunoda is fined €40,000 for using an inappropriate slur on the team radio during Q1. Tsunoda was very apologetic and said he didn’t understand the true intentions behind the term, but acknowledged that this should not be considered an excuse for his behaviour

Max Verstappen takes his 40th pole, Oscar Piastri takes P3 but his lap time is deleted for exceeding track limits, and he therefore drops to P7

Charles Leclerc is called into the pits on Lap 1 after making contact on the first corner and breaking his front wing

Race stewards notes an incident between Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Hamilton’s mechanics instruct him to let Sainz pass. No further action is taken

Fernando Alonso is handed a 10-second for an earlier incident with Zhou Guanyu

On Lap 26, Hamilton is handed a 5-second penalty for crossing the white line whilst entering the pit lane

On Lap 31, Sergio Perez is handed a 5-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane

On Lap 43, Alex Albon is handed a 5-second penalty for crossing the pit lane entry

Verstappen and Norris pit on Lap 52. Verstappen suffers a 6.2 second pit stop due to the rear tyre not coming off. The gap between Verstappen and Norris is reduced to a second

On Lap 53, Norris receives his second strike for track limits

On Lap 58, Norris receives a black and white flag for track limits

On Lap 59, Norris makes a late move on Verstappen and gets past for the lead of the race. However, Norris has to give the place back to Verstappen after he locked up and ran wide, overtaking Verstappen off the track

Norris makes another move on Verstappen on Lap 63 into Turn 3. Verstappen goes off the track whilst defending but keeps the place

On Lap 64, Verstappen and Norris make contact. Norris takes the lead due to Verstappen picking up a puncture. However, it soon becomes clear that Norris also got a puncture and was then handed a 5-second penalty. The incident gives George Russell the lead of the race

After heading back to the pits, Verstappen rejoins the race in P5, but Norris suffers a slow stop and McLaren decide to retire the car

The Virtual Safety Car is released on Lap 66

Verstappen is handed a 10-second penalty for the incident with Norris

Russell takes his first race win since the 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix and his second career victory

Race Results:

1st Place: George Russell

2nd Place: Oscar Piastri

3rd Place: Carlos Sainz

[bohnsky]

Honestly after Qatar I was anything but motivated to post, so here it is for Qatar and Texas.

I literally still feel sick thinking about what the drivers had to go through just because Qatar has money. It physically hurts me. I'm honestly just glad that everyone is okay now.

That being said here are my favorite drivers 5,5 months into liking f1:

1. Alex Albon

As always, my beloved. This guy made me support Williams in the first place and now they have become my second favorite team (after Ferrari of course, because I apparently like pain). It sometimes feels like they're the only one's who really care for their drivers.

In Texas I was really stressed out like what do you mean 0,3s away from the points in the sprint race? And what do you mean 11th in the race?

2. Sergio Perez

Checo is the sweetest, I love his smile so much and it felt good to see so many Checo fans over there in Texas, not only haters. He was doing okay this week, but Lewis is getting closer and closer and I'm scared. I just need him to be good in Mexico, otherwise I'm going to quit watching F1 (I would never but please Checo please)

3. Lewis Hamilton

This was a hard decision. But I've been obsessing over Lewis again these past few weeks so he gets 3rd for now. Even though him being good literally tears my soul apart. I want him to be good, but he's a danger to Checo my beloved. I am sooo happy that Mercedes seem to get closer to Red Bull and that Lewis might have even had a chance today if the race had been just a few laps longer. But at the same time, please be worse than Checo.

Also Lewis is one of the very few men that I find breathtakingly beautiful. He is so gorgeous. And I love his tattoos. Especially his hand tattoos.

Fun Fact: My dad watched the Qatar GP with me, which was his first race ever and now he keeps refering to Lewis as the one who never makes it past turn one. Can't wait to tell him that the one who never makes it past turn one almost got Max.

4. Charles Leclerc

This was another hard decision, because I love Charles, but the past few weeks I barely paid attention to him (not because I didn't want to, but because there were so many other things to focus on, plus Uni sucks). I have thought about putting him on 5th, but who am I kidding, I love Charles too much and when he took pole I basically had the same reaction as Matt from p1. But I didn't really have time to be sad, about him losing P1 so early, because there was so much happening.

Also both Ferraris have been doing quite good, just not good enough, which is sad, but at least they didn't have any major strategy fuck-ups.

5. Lando Norris

I almost put him in 4th. This is mainly because I totally fell in love with Team Quadrant and was watching almost all of their youtube videos. Texas quali was the first time is tuned in to Max Fewtrell's watch along and I couldn't help but cheer along for Lando. And for the first half of the race I thought that there might be a chance for him to get his first win. It's kinda frustrating watching him being on the podium every weekend but never on the top step.

Honorable mentions:

Lance. He's really close to taking 5th. I might just have two 5th places next time. I might feel for him even more than I feel for Checo. And that means something. My boy passing out in the car in the middle of the race in Qatar? I literally couldn't sleep after reading about all of this. Just imagine the things that could have happened. I could cry just thinking about it. And then the dnf in the sprint race in Texas. He was doing so good and then that. But at least we got some Strollonso content and two stroints. Good race for him today.

Logan. I didn't think I'd ever say that, but Logan has kinda sneaked his way into my heart. He's nowhere near the top five but same as Checo and Lance, I just want him to have a good race for once. Qatar might have opened my eyes about him. That he was the only driver with the balls to retire for the sake of his health. And a big thanks to Williams for being so lovely. I feel like no other team would be so understanding. Sure you could say they have nothing to lose, but still. It takes some bravery to do. And I'm happy they did.

Also the Texas race was quite good, happy for Logan. Even though the rest of the weekend sucked.

Fernando. I don't know how and when it happened but I feel myself growing fonder of Fernando every day. I realized during quali when I was really upset that both Williams, both Astons and Hulk were out in Q1. So, all five of them, drivers that I wanted to see doing well. And the dnf in the race sucked so bad. Both Astons did so well and then that.

But then again, at least we got some Strollonso content. Fernando always pointing his camera at Lance is so cute.

Also him dead ass asking the team to pour water over him in Qatar might be my favorite thing ever.

Nico. Also no idea where that came from, but I realized that I have developed a huge soft spot for Nico. It started with me being interested in how he does because he's German. Then I started to genuinely like him and now I have this huge soft spot for him. It's not like he's competing for the top five though. It kinda feels like he has his own category (again, might be the German in me talking). I respect him big time, spitting facts about how shitty Haas is and frequently driving that shit box into the points. But I don't really search for content about him. Except for Hulknussen every now and then.

Speed round:

Oscar's safe (mad respect, many would have sent that into the wall) and stupid dnf. Also Loscar is kinda cute.

Alpine being sponsored by Travis Kelce. I just think it's funny how the whole Taylonso thing comes full circle now with Tay's new boyfriend basically buying Fernando's ex team.

Also Esteban just casually talking about throwing up in his helmet...

Nico Rosberg. I initially didn't like him, but he does spit facts and I appreciate that.

Yukierre. They're too cute for my little heart.

Pierre and Danny Ric. It's crazy to me how two drivers who literally used to be my favorites at some point are now totally irrelevant to me. I still like them, but in a normal way. Which is weird. I'm not used to being normal about something.

F1 acadamy slaying. And Bianca in McLaren :)

Women.

(Please can we talk about queen Susie?)

That's it for now. Give me your thoughts.

[meaningofmotorsport]

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Preview

Imola and rain is a sure fire combination for absolute chaos, as we had a day full of action on Friday for the Sprint weekend. The circuit is seemingly treacherous when wet, and the gravel takes no prisoners, as should be the case at every track. Despite Ferrari seemingly having the pace all day, it was Verstappen who took pole for the Sprint tomorrow, partially due to Leclerc making a mistake on his second lap in Q3, which was when Max took pole, but the Red Bull was also really fast today. They did both try and do other runs in Q3, but multiple Red Flags put paid to that.

The pace of the two cars will likely be close, possibly slightly in the favour of Ferrari going off past form, but with Verstappen ahead it could be a recipe for a great weekend of racing. Max will really want to gain points on Charles if he wants to fight for this title, and Ferrari will want to win at home, so who knows what will happen! Their battle is more likely to play out in the actual race, where strategy is more of a factor.

With the chaos going on around them, Norris and Magnussen were able to make the most of the opportunity to be on the second row of the grid. I doubt that they have the pace to stay there, but especially for the Sprint, they could bag a whole lot of points. There was discussion about whether they should be penalised for causing Red Flags, which undoubtedly helped their cause. I think it is a fair rule to impose, to ensure no foul play, and we see it in a lot of other motorsports.

Alonso was another to take full advantage of the situation, although he will likely have a hard time holding off the Ferrari and Red Bull behind him. He did well to save a moment which almost left him in the gravel too. Ricciardo is building momentum after missing the second test, but he is yet to really get on terms with Lando, and needs to do that soon.

Perez was unlucky to make a slight mistake on his only representative lap in Q3, he had the pace to be on the second row. It will be fascinating to see how easy it is for him to make his way through the field with these new cars. Bottas had an unknown car issue in Q3, but they should be pleased with another top 10 in qualifying. It will be hard for him to hold on to points in the Sprint, with Sainz and the Mercedes behind, so the race should be his main focus. Vettel did an excellent job given his lack of track time all year, this just shows he still has it, despite what happened in Australia.

Moment of the day was when Sainz, on course to go comfortably first in Q2, backed it into the wall at the final corner. He said he was nowhere near the limit, but at the end of the day it happened, and will be gut wrenching for him. The fact he was on pace with Charles is a good sign, but was he pushing too much to do that? At least he will start in the top 10, and has more time to climb through the field.

This may have been an even worse qualifying than Saudi Arabia for Mercedes, as although Lewis was out in Q1 there, George showed their pace was in Q3. Here though, they just had nothing, and even if Q2 had been ‘normal’, I am not sure they would have made it. Their race pace should be better, but I am not sure if they will be able to climb up that far over the two races. Mick Schumacher made a mistake on his one lap in Q2, so missed out, otherwise his pace was pretty much with Magnussen, which is promising for him.

Zhou and Stroll just couldn’t put it together on that one lap either. AlphaTauri had a shocker so close to their factory, with neither car able to progress out of Q1. Ocon seemingly had an issue which kept him in the pitlane, and ruined his day. Williams had another brake issue on Albon’s car, which was spectacular but worrying at the same time. This is something they really need to get on top of.

This Sprint tomorrow could be a really telling factor, in how well these new regulations have worked, as there will probably be no strategy tomorrow, so passes will need to be done on pace. I am still not sold on the Sprint format, it was weird to see qualifying today, and I don’t think another mini race solves anything, apart from making more money for the F1 bosses. Wet or dry it should be a great two days of racing though!

-M

[theformula1recap]

The British Grand Prix

What a weekend this was! This was a Grand Prix where we have seen new things, overtakes, hearth break, and euphoria. Let us start with the new concept of qualifying, the sprint race. The weekend started with free practice 1 and qualification for the sprint race on Friday. With only one free practice of an hour before qualifying the pressure was on. Qualifying went how we know it with Q1, Q2, and Q3. There were very few surprises in Q1 with an elimination of the two Haas drivers, the Williams of Nicholas Latifi and the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen. Q2 ended with a disappointing result for lance stroll who came in as 15th. Antonio Giovinazzi, who did a good job at out-qualifying his teammate yet again came in as 14th. Ocon on the other hand behind his teammate on the 13the place followed by fellow Frenchman, Gasly on 12th. Giving 11th to Fernando Alonso.

Q3 ended with a 10th place for Sebastian Vettel, 9th for Carlos Sainz, 8th for George Russell in his Williams which was an amazing performance for him, 7th was for our Australian friend Daniel Ricciardo followed by his teammate Lando Norris in 6th, 5th was for Sergio Perez, 3th Valtteri Bottas, 2th Max Verstappen leaving the pole position to the speed king award winner Lewis Hamilton.

Saturday was all about the first-ever sprint race. The positions were determined and the drivers were ready to fully send it. Some people were afraid that the drivers wouldn’t give it their all, afraid to make mistakes and lose a critical position, but most of the drivers made it clear they were going for the best results. The race started how any race would start, with a formation lap and the drivers taking their positions on the grid. The thing that stood out most as the drivers waited for lights out was that the breaks of the Dutchman were on fire.

The lights went out and with an amazing start Verstappen took the lead almost immediately with Hamilton following close behind him. All drivers battling right from the start. There was a little incident in lap one where Nikita Mazepin spun out a little but nothing to severe as he returned to the track almost immediately. There also was a touché between Russell and Sainz where Russell pushed Sainz off of the track.

Lewis stayed very close to Verstappen and tried to overtake him by trying to break the slipstream going into Booklands corner but the corner was too tight. A little later in the first lap Hamilton had another slipstream and came incredibly close to overtake Verstappen but alas without result. Another driver who made immens progress at the start was Fernando Alonso, he gained 6 postitions leaving him in 5th.

All stayed relatively calm till lap 5 where Sergio Perez made a mistake and spun out leaving the track completely and almost ended up hitting the wall. This cost him greatly as he had to start the race from the pit lane. Then in lap 6, Norris finally overtook Alonso after a long hunt behind him. Just three laps later Alonso also lost the fight to Norris’ teammate Daniel Ricciardo, leaving Alonso in 7th.

The rest of the race was a little uneventful leading to the final lap where Max Verstappen crossed the finish line first giving him pole position for the race on Sunday, followed by p2 for Lewis Hamilton and p3 for Valtteri Bottas.

Race day

It was lights out and away we go, and what a first lap it was. Verstappen had a slight better start but Hamilton stayed very close behind him as they were almost side by side going into turn one. Lewis was on the inside leaving Verstappen to have a slightly better exit. They stayed very close together for the entire first lap not touching each other once. The fight between them was on and neither one of them were pulling away. This all changed when they got to Copse corner where they collided leaving Verstappen to be in a high speed crash into the tire wall. The accident resulted in a DNF for Verstappen and a trip to the hospital for precautionary checks. Leclerc managed to secure the lead while the accident happened in front of him. A safety car was given but soon turned into a red flag. And all of that in the first lap of the race.

At the restart all went well with Leclerc leading the pack. On the 4th lap there was a little spin for vettel setting him back to last place. Lap 14 there was an engine failure for Leclerc which was quickly resolved. Hamilton had been given a 10 second time penalty for his collision with Verstappen in lap one which he had to add on to his pitstop time in lap 28. Leaving him in 4th place behind Leclerc, Bottas and Norris. Not soon after however he overtook Norris and a few laps later Bottas was giving instruction to let Hamilton pass him. Then on lap 50/52 Hamilton passed Charles Leclerc after he had been in the lead for 43 laps. Hamilton won his home Grand Prix with Leclerc 2nd and Bottas 3rd.

Hamilton was very excited to win this race, he was given a British flag and drove it around the track waving it at the crowd. Later when he arrived at the number one sign in the pits he got out of his car after some congratulations from fellow drivers and run into the grass next to the track and waved the flag some more. There was a lot of discussion about his overexcited and grand celebrations. Some people thought he deserved it and some people thought it to be unsportsmanlike after he caused a collision on his biggest rival this season.

Let me know what you thought about this weekend, did you like the sprint qualy, did you enjoy the race? And what was your opinion on the whole Hamilton situation?

-Davey

[boxboxblog]

COTA 2024: Sprint Race Overview

Alright everyone, time to go over the sprint race.

Let's go.

Straight away Norris jumps up two positions in a fantastic lunge. He grabs this due to the mini fight we see between the two Ferraris, which they continue for the next few laps. These were probably the best battles of the race, with Sainz passing Leclerc and vice versa over and over again. Verstappen built quite a gap to Norris behind, but so does Norris to Russell., which solidifes early on what the top three will most likely look like.

Sainz did eventually pass his teammate and held the position, but Leclerc stays close behind in DRS range the entire race. It is very clear that they were given permission. by their team to fight for this race. Toward the latter half of the race, Sainz gets in DRS range of Russell (which prevents his teammate from using DRS to its full advantage), and passed him. Shortly after Leclerc also passed Russell, once again chasing Sainz.

We also saw some fantastic battling between Piastri and Tsunoda. Piastri attempted to pass Tsunoda several times, but the Japanese man had some fantastic defensive moves. There was a light controversy, as a move by Piastri forced Tsunoda off, but the Australian driver quickly gave the position back to avoid his second penalty of the race. Piastri eventually got by him, but it was an enjoyable fight nonetheless.

The rest of the grid mostly held position, with only Colapinto and Tsunoda being the only top 10 drivers who dropped out of it. We did see Hamilton climb higher up behind his teammate, but Mercedes ordered them over the radio to keep any fights clean.

The most exciting change was in the last lap, when Sainz made a dive on Norris and passed him cleanly. This allowed him to jump up into 2nd position, and relegated the fight for 3rd between Leclerc and Norris. Ultimately, Leclerc has a near miss with Norris which took away his chance of jumping up to a 3rd place finish. This meant that Verstappen took the win cleanly (and the fastest lap) while there had been a dogfight for the positions behind him. Very interesting race.

Finish:

Verstappen

Sainz

Norris

Leclerc

Russell

Hamilton

Magnussen

Hulkenberg

Perez

Piastri

Tsunoda

Colapinto

Stroll

Gasly

Ocon

Lawson

Albon

Alonso

Zhou

Bottas

Alright, what a fun sprint

See you later for quali.

Cheers,

-B

[f1]

Can Sergio Perez fight Max Verstappen for the 2023 F1 title? | The Race F1 Podcast

Scott Mitchell-Malm and Mark Hughes join Edd Straw to review the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the first of F1’s modified sprint weekends. There’s discussion over whether the new format was an improvement over the previous sprint format and an explanation of how Esteban Ocon’s bizarre pitlane fast lane near-miss on the race’s final lap happened. Sergio Perez’s most convincing victory against Max Verstappen is also discussed as his chances of victory if he didn’t receive help from the well-timed safety car intervention. The trio also discuss what this win means for Perez’s title hopes as well as the looking at all of the stories further down the field such as Fernando Alonso helping his Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz’s weekend of ‘damage limitation’. 0:00 The new sprint format 4:32 The pitlane controversy 9:44 Perez v Verstappen 23:49 Leclerc gets going 27:23 Subdued Sainz 31:35 Aston Martin damage limitation 33:34 Russell's clash with Verstappen 36:39 Alpine's nightmare 41:01 Why was Russell not given a penalty? 43:30 Is the new sprint format a step forward? 46:19 Should Sainz be fearful of F2 star? 48:11 Did Williams under-perform? 50:20 Is the RB19 similar to the early season RB18? 51:45 McLaren's upgrade 53:31 Bottas struggling 55:15 The top four teams 56:03 Is Lawson in contention at AlphaTauri? 59:30 Push-to-pass better than DRS? 1:01:04 Could the sprint be a non-points fun race? Subscribe: http://the-race.com/youtube_subscribe Website: http://the-race.com/ Twitter: @wearetherace Instagram: @wearetherace Facebook: http://facebook.com/wearetherace Podcasts: http://the-race.com/podcasts Thanks for watching - please like, share and comment, please also hit subscribe to show your support so we'll keep doing what we're doing. https://www.the-race.com http://www.twitter.com/wearetherace #f1 #formula1 #azerbaijangp #podcast #f1podcast #f12023 #f123 #f1news #sergioperez #maxverstappen #redbull #baku #ferrari #mercedes #astonmartin #georgerussell #charlesleclerc #carlossainz #fernandoalonso #grandprix #therace via THE RACE https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaTxfj0BzL-MaCy-YUqPRoQ

[f1]

Leclerc says Ferrari 'absolutely maximised' Azerbaijan weekend after claiming first podium of season

Charles Leclerc secured his first podium of the season in the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, after taking pole in the Sprint Shootout and pole for the Grand Prix, and while he said Ferrari got the best result possible, he admitted there was more to be done. The Ferrari driver led the Red Bulls off the line on Sunday in Baku but Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez eventually breezed past Leclerc and it was Perez who won the race. Leclerc did however take his first podium – plus P2 in the Sprint – to take 22 points and jump up to sixth in the drivers’ standings. READ MORE: Perez leads Red Bull one-two in dramatic Azerbaijan GP to cut Verstappen’s championship lead “I’m here to win and obviously second, third, is not what I want," said Leclerc. "Considering the first three races which we’ve had, scoring six points in three races, this weekend is better – we didn’t have any problems, it was a trouble-free weekend. "I think when I look back at the weekend I look back at every session and I think we maximised absolutely everything in every single session, so on that we should be happy; on the other hand there is still work to do." He continued: “I think Aston Martin is quicker than us and has a better car than us in race pace. Red Bull has a much better car than us in terms of race pace and that’s where we need to make the biggest step forwards. In qualifying over one lap, with the juice of the tyres taking a bit more risk, we managed to do two poles but then over 51 laps race distance it’s impossible.” Team mate Carlos Sainz rounded out the top five ahead of Lewis Hamilton, having been passed by compatriot Alonso after the Safety Car restart, and the Spanish Ferrari driver said he lacked confidence to attack the track at Baku. “I had to focus on just controlling Lewis, making it to the finish line in P5 without any mistakes, because today there was just no confidence to push in the car, to get close the walls," he said. "When you feel the car very loose around Baku, it just is what it is. We will now focus on what happened. We will finally have a bit of time to settle down and analyse what could have been, and I’m sure in Miami we will be back on form. READ MORE: Perez relieved his tyre ‘didn’t blow up’ en route to becoming first ever multiple Azerbaijan GP winner He added: “I think we’ve extracted performance out of the car but if you look in detail at our race pace, compared to the Astons and the Red Bulls, they still have relatively much better race pace than qualifying pace compared to us. “This is very high up on our list of things that we want to understand why, because definitely the points are on Sunday and that’s where you want to be quicker.” Ferrari head to Miami fourth in the constructors’ championship, 14 points behind next-best team Mercedes – having outscored the Silver Arrows by 16 points in Azerbaijan. via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

[f1]

Max Verstappen calls on F1 chiefs to dump the new sprint format - saying he was 'BORED' in Baku

'Just scrap the whole thing': Max Verstappen calls on F1 chiefs to dump the new sprint format - saying he was 'BORED' during the Baku shootout - as he goes on the warpath AGAIN after clashing with George Russell By Jonathan McEvoy For Mailonine Published: 13:54 EDT, 29 April 2023 | Updated: 13:54 EDT, 29 April 2023 Max Verstappen has called on Formula One bosses to dump the ‘artificial excitement’ of the new sprint format introduced this weekend in Baku. Ironically, the world champion was the most colourful part of Saturday's sprint race, entangling in an on and off-track argument with George Russell. But, after finishing third behind Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc, Verstappen took aim at the schedule that was unanimously passed by the FIA, Formula One Group and the teams only last week. It has seen a second qualifying session added to determine the sprint grid. Qualifying for the grand prix itself took place on Friday. ‘Just scrap the whole thing,’ said Verstappen. ‘It is important to go back to what we had and make sure every team can fight for a win. That is what we have to try to aim for and not to implement this artificial excitement. ‘The sprint is hectic. It is not proper racing; it is more like gambling. I will have more success in Las Vegas when I go to the casino. I like racing, I am a pure racer and this is more for the show. Max Verstappen has called on Formula One's bosses to scrap this season's new sprint format The disgruntled Red Bull driver described the new Sprint Shootout as 'artificial excitement' and insisted he was 'bored' during its introduction at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday The world champion and George Russell clashed in a bust-up following the sprint race in Baku Verstappen told the British driver to 'expect next time the same' after being cut up on the track ‘It feels like a football match when one team is winning 3-0 and then suddenly you just reset it to 0-0 and you go again. I find it unnecessary.’ Referring to the new sprint shootout, Verstappen added: ‘I got bored qualifying (on Saturday) to be honest. ‘I like to have one qualifying (for the grand prix) where you put everything in it. I did that yesterday (Friday), which I enjoyed, and then we had to do it again today and I was like, “My God, another qualifying.” I just don’t enjoy that.’ After Saturday's running, most drivers lent their cautious approval to the new schedule, which will be in place at the five remaining sprint-race weekends, the next coming in Austria on July 2. Share or comment on this article: Max Verstappen calls on F1 chiefs to dump the new sprint format - saying he was 'BORED' in Baku via Formula One | Mail Online https://www.dailymail.co.uk?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

[f1]

FACTS AND STATS: Win 12 for Red Bull heralds most successful season start in F1 history

The records just keep on falling to Red Bull and Max Verstappen, who showed no sign of releasing their vice-like grip on the 2023 titles in Belgium on Sunday. There were, however, some notable numbers for plenty of others on the grid – here’s our round-up from Spa. • Verstappen won by 17.841s. Last year he won this race by 22.305s. • It was Verstappen’s eighth consecutive championship race win, just one short of the all-time record held by Sebastian Vettel from 2013. RACE REPORT: Verstappen charges to Belgian GP win as Red Bull bag 1-2 finish • Prior to today, Verstappen had never won from sixth on the grid. It means he ties Fernando Alonso's record of nine winning grid positions. • With 314 points so far in 2023, Verstappen has already exceeded Vettel's championship-winning points totals in 2010 (256 points) and 2012 (281 points). • Today was Verstappen’s 13th consecutive podium finish (the fourth-longest streak in history). • Verstappen will arrive at his home race next month having not lost a Grand Prix or a Sprint event in almost four months (since Azerbaijan on April 30th). • In finishing one-two for their 12th win of the year, Red Bull broke the record for most victories from the beginning of a single season (McLaren won the first 11 races in 1988). Leclerc and Ferrari were back on the podium in Belgium • It was Red Bull's fifth one-two finish of the season and ties their best-ever season total, set in 2022. • Red Bull finished one-two in Belgium for the second year in a row. • P2 was Perez’s best finish since the Miami Grand Prix, seven races ago. RACE START: Enjoy the action from Spa as Perez passes pole-sitter Leclerc while Piastri and Sainz collide • It was Perez’s 33rd career podium, surpassing Daniel Ricciardo's career total. • With P3, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took his third podium finish of the year. • Leclerc has now failed to win his last nine starts from first on the grid. • Perez finished 4.5s further behind Verstappen today than he did when finishing second behind his team mate in last year's Belgian Grand Prix. DRIVER OF THE DAY: Flawless Verstappen gets your vote after imperious Spa win • After finishing P4 for Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton has scored in every race this season. • He also set the fastest lap of the race, meaning he is now only one point behind Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso in the battle for third in the drivers' championship. • Alonso finished fifth in Belgium for the second year in a row. • Mercedes’ George Russell finished sixth for the second consecutive weekend, having never finished sixth before in his entire F1 career. Yuki Tsunoda - still the only man to score for AlphaTauri in 2023 • With P7 for McLaren, Lando Norris tied his best-ever Spa result (he previously finished seventh in 2020). • After taking P8 for Alpine, Esteban Ocon has now scored points at Spa in his last six consecutive appearances. • It was his first points-finish since Canada, four races ago. • With P9 for Aston Martin, Lance Stroll tied his best-ever Belgian Grand Prix finish (2020). • Stroll has not had a top-eight finish in the last five races. • Yuki Tsunoda took P10 and has scored all of AlphaTauri's points in 2023. • Tsunoda has now finished 10th on three occasions this year (Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium). • Pierre Gasly could only manage P11, but still scored more points in yesterday's Sprint (six) than Alpine team mate ocon scored in today's Grand Prix (four). • Carlos Sainz’s DNF for Ferrari was his fourth failure to finish at Spa (fifth when including his did-not-start in 2020). • Oscar Piastri’s early DNF for McLaren was his first retirement since his F1 debut in Bahrain at the start of the season. via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

[f1]

Verstappen sees off Perez for commanding win in rain-hit sprint race | 2023 Austrian Grand Prix sprint race

Max Verstappen took a comfortable victory in the Austrian Grand Prix sprint race after winning a fierce scrap for the lead with his team mate on the first lap. In a race that begin on a wet track which slowly dried out, Verstappen was challenged by Perez for the first couple of corners but managed to take back the lead by turn four. From there on he was never touched and went on to win by 21 seconds. Perez finished second with Carlos Sainz Jnr taking third place for Ferrari. Rain before the race left the circuit wet as teams prepared for the formation lap. All the field chose intermediate tyres except for Valtteri Bottas in 19th, who opted to risk starting on mediums. However, he was hardly able to keep up with cars ahead on the formation lap and pulled into the pits before the start to switch to intermediate tyres. When the lights went out, Perez made a better getaway on the damp grid than his team mate and took the lead turn one. Verstappen did not take losing the lead lightly and battled back into turn three, retaking the place back from his team mate. Nico Hulkenberg moved past Lando Norris into third place, which became second when Perez was hung out around the outside of turn four by his team mate, allowing the Haas driver to take second place. Verstappen pulled away out front in the early laps, ahead of Hulkenberg, Perez, Sainz and the two Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso. Perez did not put Hulkenberg under pressure for second until finally getting within a second of the Haas on lap eight. However, to took until the 12th lap for Perez to finally take second place from the Haas, getting a better exit from turn four to sweep around the outside into turn six. Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free At half distance, Verstappen’s advantage was almost 10 seconds over his team mate. Sainz demoted Hulkenberg down to fourth place as, behind, a three-way scrap was taking place between Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc and Norris. With eight laps remaining, George Russell pitted from 11th place for soft tyres. After a slow out-lap, Russell set the fastest first sector which led to a flurry of activity in the pit lane, including Hulkenberg, Leclerc and Alexander Albon among other switching to dry tyres. With only five laps remaining, drivers were reaching a point where they had to either pit or stick with their intermediate tyres for the rest of the race. The drivers on slick tyres were easily quicker, but had to make up significant time to catch the top seven drivers, who all remained on their intermediates. Out front, Verstappen’s lead over his team mate had doubled. Sainz was two seconds behind Perez, while Alonso was pressuring his team mate for fourth but did not get close enough to attempt a pass. On the penultimate lap, Hulkenberg caught and passed Norris to take sixth place but was running out of time to catch the two Aston Martins ahead. Verstappen cruised over the final lap to take the chequered flag and secure the eight points for victory in the sprint race. Perez lost almost a second per lap to his team mate on his way to second place, while Sainz in third was only two seconds behind the second Red Bull. The two Aston Martins finished fourth and fifth after Stroll successfully held off Alonso’s challenge over the final lap. Hulkenberg climbed back up to sixth to finish the highest of those who pitted for slicks, while Ocon only just held off Russell to the line by nine-thousandths of a second – the Mercedes still claiming the final point as a consolation. Norris and Hamilton completed the top 10, but neither scored points. Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free 2023 Austrian Grand Prix Browse all 2023 Austrian Grand Prix articles via RaceFans - Independent Motorsport Coverage https://www.racefans.net/

[f1]

Horner says Perez had a 'sensational weekend' at Baku as Red Bull take their 25th 1-2 finish

Christian Horner hailed Sergio Perez as "outstanding" after the Red Bull driver took his second Azerbaijan Grand Prix victory with a commanding drive on Sunday in Baku. Perez has a knack at winning on street circuits having taken P1 at Monaco, Azerbaijan, Singapore and Jeddah in the past – and on Sunday the Mexican became the first driver to win more than one Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He started third but passed pole-sitter Leclerc soon afterwards, and inherited the lead having stopped during the Safety Car brought out by Nyck de Vries’s stoppage – while team mate Max Verstappen stopped just prior to the Safety Car being deployed. READ MORE: Perez leads Red Bull one-two in dramatic Azerbaijan GP to cut Verstappen’s championship lead “He’s had a sensational weekend. He’s always been outstanding at this track; I don’t know what it is about Azerbaijan but he absolutely excels here. He got a little lucky with the Safety Car today but then he converted that and he pulled a gap and he had the pace and he really controlled the race. So phenomenal drive by him all weekend,” said Horner, who explained why Verstappen missed the opportune time to stop. “It was the optimum time to stop from a performance point of view, but De Vries hasn’t hit the wall there; the engine is still running, and to us it looked like he was just going to reverse out and go from there, so we’d already committed to the stop. This feature is currently not available because you need to provide consent to functional cookies. Please update your cookie preferences 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Perez takes Leclerc for P2 at Turn 1 “Of course, 20:20 vision, 20:20 hindsight’s always going to say ‘coulda, woulda, shoulda’, but sometimes, things like that just don’t go your way and [Max’s] misfortune was Checo’s good fortune.” The Red Bull Team Principal added that championship leader Verstappen “didn’t seem quite as comfortable” as Perez on a weekend that saw just one practice session before qualifying. READ MORE: ‘I learned a lot of things’ – Verstappen takes the positives from Baku despite losing out to team mate Perez “What you’ve got to think as well, he was obviously leading the Grand Prix, then the incident happened. I think that he didn’t seem quite as comfortable with the set up of his car as Checo did. "He was obviously talking about the rear tyres already prior to that stop. And I think track position, when you’re in the dirty air, there wasn’t a lot of overtaking in that race, and that probably didn’t help his tyres as well.” This feature is currently not available because you need to provide consent to functional cookies. Please update your cookie preferences 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Sergio Perez crosses the line in Baku to take his second victory of the season Heading to Miami, the two Red Bull drivers are split by just six points – and Horner said the team would focus on scoring even more before heading back to Europe, where teams are expected to bring their first significant upgrade packages of the season. READ MORE: Perez relieved his tyre ‘didn’t blow up’ en route to becoming first ever multiple Azerbaijan GP winner “I think we’ve got, what, 19 races, five more Sprint races to go, there is a long, long way, and I think that, we know that other teams will come with upgrades to Europe, so we’re just going to keep the hammer down, keeping trying to get the results and that was our 25th one-two finish as a team. Great to get those points early in the championship. “Miami, different challenge, humid, hot, different surface. I think they’ve resurfaced part of the track there; again a track you can overtake at. We expect Ferrari to be strong there again, particularly on Saturday, and then we’ll see how the tyres behave on the Sunday,” said the Red Bull boss. via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

[f1]

FACTS AND STATS: Red Bull take 25th one-two as Perez makes it five street wins in a row

We know Sergio Perez likes street circuits, and the Mexican relished proving it once more in Azerbaijan as he and Red Bull racked up some landmark stats for the team. Here are those, along with a plethora of other fascinating numbers generated by Sunday’s Baku race… Perez is the first driver to win in Azerbaijan more than once. Perez’s fifth Baku podium maintains his record for the most by any driver here. Perez’s last five wins have now all come on street or temporary circuits (Baku 2021 and 2023, Monaco 2022, Singapore 2022 and Jeddah 2023). RACE REPORT: Perez leads Red Bull one-two in dramatic Azerbaijan GP to cut Verstappen’s championship lead Red Bull finished one-two on the weekend of Helmut Marko's 80th birthday. Red Bull's 25th one-two finish in the team’s history today was also the first time they've finished one-two in consecutive years at the same track since Interlagos in Brazil in 2010 and 2011. Perez has led home Max Verstappen in Red Bull's last two one-two finishes, which has never previously occurred. Perez won twice in one weekend, having also won the F1 Sprint on Saturday. No win from pole for Leclerc, but Ferrari's first 2023 podium was some consolation Verstappen's 81st podium finish surpasses Ayrton Senna's career total, on the day before the anniversary of Senna's passing in 1994. Verstappen was on the podium in Baku for only the second time in his career (he won the 2022 race). With third place, Charles Leclerc secured Ferrari's first podium finish of 2023. Leclerc scored 22 points this weekend, having scored just six points in the opening three races combined. READ MORE: Perez relieved his tyre ‘didn’t blow up’ en route to becoming first ever multiple Azerbaijan GP winner Today was the eighth consecutive time Leclerc has failed to convert pole position into a win, the longest streak since Nelson Piquet's 10 in a row from 1984 to 1987. Leclerc became only the fifth different driver to feature on the podium in the opening four races (the others being Perez, Verstappen, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton). Alonso’s P4 result means he has finished in the top four at every race in 2023 for Aston Martin. He missed out on finishing third for the fourth consecutive race by 0.807s. Today was Alonso’s first-ever top-five finish in Baku. The Aston Martin team have never failed to finish in the top six in Baku. Alfa Romeo retired a car for the first time in 2023 After finishing P5 today, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz is the highest driver in the championship without a podium finish. He lies fifth overall. That P5 today matches Sainz’s best career result in Baku (he finished fifth for Renault in 2018). At Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton’s P6 was his worst result of the season so far. Mercedes finished over 45 seconds behind the race winner, as they did in Bahrain. Lance Stroll, who took P7 in the second Aston Martin, has only failed to score once this year (in Saudi Arabia). HIGHLIGHTS: Watch as Sergio Perez wins the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix George Russell finished in P8 for Mercedes and set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap. Russell scored as many points in the Grand Prix as he did in yesterday's Sprint (five) With Lando Norris in P9, McLaren scored points for the second consecutive race. Norris also finished ninth in Baku for the second year in a row. AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda was P10 – his last five results have been 11th, 11th, 11th, 10th, 10th. After Pierre Gasly came home in P14 and team mate Esteban Ocon P15, Alpine are now point-less in consecutive races, having only failed to score in three races in all of 2022. Zhou Guanyu’s DNF was first Alfa Romeo’s first retirement of 2023 Nyck de Vries’s DNF in the second AlphaTauri was the first retirement of his F1 career. via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

[f1]

Sergio Perez powers to win in Red Bull duel at the Azerbaijan grand prix

Sergio Perez powers to win in duel against his Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen at Azerbaijan GP, with Charles Leclerc in third and Lewis Hamilton back in sixth place Sergio Perez wins the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to clinch a comfortable victory The Red Bull driver has ignited the championship race with Max Verstappen Verstappen initially led but lost his position to a pit stop under a safety car  By Jonathan McEvoy For Mailonine Published: 08:49 EDT, 30 April 2023 | Updated: 08:49 EDT, 30 April 2023 Sergio Perez made a contest of the world championship fight by beating Max Verstappen to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Mexican was advantaged by an early safety car phase but was already showing good pace and then controlled the race to make it two wins each for the Red Bull pair. There are just six points separating Verstappen at the top from his team-mate. It was a brilliant weekend for Perez, who also took the honours in the sprint race on Saturday. Verstappen was runner-up both times. Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari and Fernando Alonso fourth for Aston Martin. Lewis Hamilton, in good form on the day, was sixth for Mercedes, a place off Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.  Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell finished eighth, also setting the fastest lap after a late change of tyres, and fellow Brit Lando Norris ninth for McLaren. The Red Bulls were too fast for the rest with both Verstappen and Perez passing pole man Leclerc early on at 215mph. That was lap four, as soon as DRS was enabled. Perez made the same move two laps later, both on the start/finish straight. It was in Red Bulls’ hands now, each driver matching the other. The pivotal moment came on lap 10 when Nyck de Vries banged his AlphaTauri on the entrance of Turn 4. Red Bull strangely called Verstappen in to be reshod moments later.  They should have waited to see if, as was likely and transpired, a safety car was deployed and then pitted him. The mistake of following their preordained strategy put him down to third.  He whipped straight past Leclerc again but followed Perez around all the rest of the afternoon as the tension fell away. The gap at the end stood at 2.1 seconds. The safety car also hurt Hamilton and he plummeted from fifth to 10th. He soared back up the field and passed Russell in the other Mercedes impressively to take seventh and then capitalised on a mistake by Aston’s Lance Stroll for sixth. Share or comment on this article: Sergio Perez wins the Azerbaijan grand prix to clinch his second win of the season via Formula One | Mail Online https://www.dailymail.co.uk?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490