Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Sergio Perez confirms his dominance in Baku, Red Bull secures a one-two finish

After a Saturday fully dedicated to the Sprint – to say the least eventful, as evidenced by the collision between George Russell and Max Verstappen – it’s time for the traditional race this Sunday, where the most points are awarded.

The lights go out, we have a clean start from Charles Leclerc, who has taken pole position, and the Red Bulls are off at full speed. Right from the start, there is contact between Alexander Albon and Oscar Piastri, but it doesn’t have much impact on both cars, although a few small debris litter the track. Lance Stroll has taken advantage over Lando Norris and is now in 7th position, while George Russell has immediately gained two positions to sit in 9th. Yuki Tsunoda is the one losing out, dropping from 8th to 10th place.

Valtteri Bottas also lost many positions: starting in 13th, he dropped to 18th place, just ahead of Ocon and Hülkenberg who started from the pit lane. The fault lies with a contact with Kevin Magnussen, who collided with the back of the Alfa Romeo, and is reporting damage to his Haas.

From the 3rd lap onwards, Max Verstappen rapidly overtakes Charles Leclerc in a straight line, leaving the Monegasque completely powerless against the speed of the Red Bull and its activated DRS. At this pace, it won’t be long before Sergio Pérez passes him by: a prediction that comes true on lap 6, with Ferrari’s driver offering no resistance.

A short message from Lance Stroll to his team indicates that he does not intend to attack his own teammate, as they play the same game. From the 7th lap, Bottas is the first to pit and replace his medium tires with hard ones. He is then followed by Alex Albon. At Mercedes, they are preparing to welcome Lewis Hamilton, who also takes the hard tires. Max Verstappen imitates him a few laps later.

Nyck de Vries in the wall

Surprise at turn 10: Nyck de Vries hits the inner wall at turn 5, breaking his front left suspension and coming to a stop on the track. A serious mistake from the Dutchman, who continues his unlucky season and triggers the deployment of the safety car. It’s a setback for the drivers who have just made their pit stops. Ferrari takes advantage of this to make their way to the pits, along with Pérez and the majority of the grid. Aston Martin carries out a rather slow pit stop for Alonso, lasting 4.7 seconds. Behind the safety car, Pérez leads the race ahead of Leclerc, Verstappen, and Sainz.

The restart takes place on lap 14, with the Dutch driver immediately showing great aggression towards Leclerc and taking second place from him. Alonso also takes advantage of the situation to pass his compatriot Sainz and moves up to fourth. On the other hand, the Mercedes drivers battle each other for 7th place, with Hamilton having the upper hand after gaining two positions. Russell apologizes over the radio for his very poor restart.

Lewis Hamilton takes advantage of Stroll’s mistake on lap 20 to claim 6th position. The Canadian briefly went off track, losing valuable seconds. He is not out of trouble yet, as now it is the other Mercedes driver, Russell, who is dangerously catching up to him.

Charles Leclerc lagging behind

Towards the halfway point of the Grand Prix, the race seems to settle into a cruising pace, with Verstappen maintaining a steady gap of about one second behind his teammate, and more than 13 seconds ahead of Leclerc who is struggling to keep up with the Red Bulls, while Alonso is closing in. In the midfield, a real DRS train forms behind Esteban Ocon, who is in 9th position. Just behind him, Hülkenberg brushes against the wall, but without any damage.

A few laps later, Pérez seems to be pulling away from the Dutchman, while Alonso launches his attack on Leclerc for third place. On lap 37, Zhou is forced to bring his car into the pit due to a technical issue. With only 10 laps remaining, the anticipated overtakes by Alonso and Hamilton are taking longer than expected. Meanwhile, close encounters with the wall at turn 15 are happening everywhere, including with the championship leader Verstappen.

With just two laps to go, George Russell is forced to go through the pits to change his tires after making a mistake and going off track. Hülkenberg follows him into the pits, as he hadn’t made a pit stop during the entire race, just like Ocon.

As the end draws near, Alonso increases the pace in hopes of once again stepping onto the podium. But in the end, that’s as far as it goes, and it is indeed Sergio Pérez who wins the Grand Prix, securing a Red Bull one-two finish ahead of Charles Leclerc.

The ranking of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix