Azerbaijan GP: Perez on top as Verstappen tangles with Russell
29th April 2023Red Bull’s Sergio Perez secured the Azerbaijan sprint ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen tangled with Mercedes’ George Russell, in the early stages.
How the race unfolded…
It was a fantastic start to the first sprint of the season by Leclerc who managed to go into the opening corner unchallenged while, second-placed, Perez was forced to defend his track position from Verstappen in third.
As the pack filtered through the opening corners, Leclerc and Perez went through unchallenged. Whereas slightly further back, Russell put the defending world champion under pressure into turn two as the drivers went wheel-to-wheel in the subsequent corners.
Brief contact was made between Russell and Verstappen at turn two, with minor damage to the Red Bull, before the Dutchman was forced to yield third place on the exit of turn three – after some slight contact with the barrier.
Following the incident, Verstappen was not very happy with the Briton’s racing standards.
“I don’t understand how he can keep the position and he’s damaging my car. It’s totally ridiculous.”
However, the race was neutralised at the end of lap one as Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda understeered into the barrier, at turn 14, which saw the rear-right tyre come off its rim and roll down the hill at turn 15. The Virtual Safety Car was quickly deployed to allow the track marshals to clear away the debris but this was soon upgraded to a full safety car.
Tsunoda was able to limp his AT04 back to the pits for a new set of tyres but he was released back onto the track with suspension damage which the team are to be investigated by race control, for releasing the car in an unsafe condition.
After the debris was cleared away, the safety car was recalled to the pit lane and Leclerc got the race back underway.
On the restart, on lap Leclerc bolted fairly early before the pit entry line but Perez kept on the gearbox of the Monegasque’s Ferrari while Verstappen kept his car within the limits before he completed a move on Russell to regain third, into the first corner.
Despite Leclerc’s best efforts to keep Perez at bay, deploying his battery in the places to maintain the gap, the Mexican – aided with DRS – put his car down the inside line and overtook the Monegasque into turn one at the start of lap eight.
In the final laps, Perez had established a healthy three-second gap over Leclerc while the Ferrari driver was able to keep Verstappen at bay in third, with just over a second in hand.
Top three:
- Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing
- Charles Leclerc, Mercedes
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
That’s all for the article; Azerbaijan GP: Perez on top as Verstappen tangles with Russell!
What did you think of the first Sprint race of the year? Let us know in the comments!
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Azerbaijan GP: Leclerc secures inaugural Sprint Shootout pole despite late crash
- Azerbaijan GP: Verstappen on top in dramatic sole practice session
- Wolff urges ‘no magic bullet’ as Mercedes look to improve W14
- Franz Tost to stand down from Alpha Tauri at end of year
- F1 reveal Sprint Shootout ahead of Azerbaijan race weekend
- Australian GP promoter found to breach rules after fans invade circuit
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
