Formula 1: Sergio Pérez wins the Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen

Europe 1 with AFP 15:56 p.m., April 30, 2023

On another planet. Between Sergio Pérez, winner of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday, and his teammate Max Verstappen, leader in the championship, who came in second position, the Red Bulls left no chance to their opponents on the streets of Baku. "Everything worked today for us!" said Pérez after the finish of the 4th round of the season. He had already won in Baku in 2021 and becomes the first driver to win twice on this circuit, adding his victory in the sprint race on Saturday.

Your points scorers in Baku #AzerbaijanGP#F1pic.twitter.com/OJxHyaAkuc

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 30, 2023

On the shores of the Caspian Sea, where more shows were expected in the narrow and tricky streets of the Azerbaijani capital, poleman Leclerc did not resist the onslaught of Red Bull for long. Second on the grid, Verstappen took the lead over the Monegasque at the start of lap 4, Pérez at the start of lap 6. The intervention of the safety car could have reshuffled the cards, especially since Verstappen, called too early in the pits to change his tires, found himself behind Pérez and Leclerc.

"They play in a different category when it comes to racing"

"The safety car was somewhat unwelcome," admitted the Dutchman. But at the restart of the race, Leclerc was again dominated by "Mad Max". The Scuderia driver will never see the Austrian team's powerful single-seaters again, which have only widened the gap with the rest of the grid. This is the third double in four GPs for Red Bull.

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At the finish, more than 20 seconds separated Verstappen from Leclerc. "They play in another category when it comes to the race," reacted, disillusioned, the Monegasque at the finish. "They have so much more pace than us, everyone is working hard to understand what we can do in the race to close the gap." The big winner of the weekend, Pérez leaves Azerbaijan with 36 of the 37 points offered this weekend. Only the fastest lap point, recovered by Britain's George Russell (Mercedes), escaped him.

Alonso ejected from the podium

The day before, the Mexican had already won the sprint, taking the eight points of victory. With his two wins over the weekend, the 33-year-old has closed the gap to Verstappen in the championship and is now just six lengths behind the two-time reigning world champion. Behind, the Spaniard Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), retains the 3rd place overall. He finished for the first time since the season off the podium, in 4th place.

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The fourth round of the season marked the return on Saturday of a sprint race, a format introduced in 2021 and which will be found on five other GPs this season. But, contrary to what was done until now, F1 has revised its format to ensure the spectacle. Thus, the sprint, which usually determined the grid of the GP contested the next day, now has no impact for the day of Sunday. He also has his own qualifying session earlier on Saturday in which Leclerc took pole.

Fear for Ocon

In order to determine the starting grid of the GP, the drivers had contested Friday a first qualifying session where, there already, the Monegasque, had shone. King of pole on the Azerbaijani track, Leclerc has - once again - failed to confirm his rank in the race. The Monegasque did not lose everything, however, as he scored in Azerbaijan his first podium of the season for Ferrari - and the first of the Scuderia under Frédéric Vasseur, who arrived in January at the head of the Italian team.

Behind, the Frenchmen Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, finished respectively 14th and 15th. Ocon, who went through the pits for the first time in the race on the last lap (a minimum stop is mandatory during the GP, under penalty of being disqualified), also made a nice scare by discovering at the last moment photographers on the pit lane.