Sergio Perez wins the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku

Sergio Perez wins the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku to cut the gap on Verstappen to six points

Image of Red Bull's Sergio Perez after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Credit: Twitter@F1

Max Verstappen’s lead at the top of the F1 driver’s table was cut to six points after Red Bull’s Sergio Perez won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez took the chequered flag in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku this afternoon, Sunday, April 30. This was the Mexican’s second victory of the season and cuts the gap at the top of the driver’s table to just six points.

His teammate and current championship leader Max Verstappen had to settle for second place on the podium at the fast street circuit. The Dutch world champion was unable to catch Pérez who stretched his lead to three seconds as the race entered the final laps.

Charles Leclerc started this fourth Formula One race of the season in pole position but quickly found himself being overtaken by both Red Bulls.

The Frenchman managed to keep the Ferrari in third place despite constant pressure from Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin who crossed the line just eight-tenths behind him.

A safety car was deployed on lap 10 after Nyck de Vries shunted his Alpha Tauri into the wall at Turn 5. This allowed the rest of the field to bunch up with Perez taking advantage of the situation to pit. His decisive move saw the Mexican exit the pits ahead of the pack after the safety car was removed.

Carlos Sainz brought the second Ferrari over the finishing line in fifth, followed by Lewis Hamilton. The Brit tried his best to pass the Spanish driver but his Mercedes simply could not find the extra power, even under DRS.

Lance Stroll clinched another impressive finish in the Aston Martin to romp home in seventh position. George Russell failed to capitalise on some excellent qualifying sessions and finished in eighth.

The McLaren of Lando Norris took ninth with Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the Top 10.

An incident in the pit lane on the final lap involving the Alpine of Esteban Ocon could have ended badly. As he headed towards his garage for a tyre change, the Frenchman was confronted by a group of FIA officials and photographers crowded in the pit lane. 

They had allegedly been mistakenly allowed into the zone when it was still closed off while the race was still ongoing. An investigation was conducted by race stewards who apparently instructed the officials that this should never happen again.

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Written by

Chris King

Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com

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