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Sergio Perez took glory around the streets of a sun-drenched Baku in Formula One’s dramatic Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly.
Championship contenders Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton both failed to score points, as the Dutchman suffered a tyre failure which bought out the red flag and on the restart saw Hamilton lock-up at turn one and sink down the pack.
The six-kilometre-long track twists and turns through the streets of the Azerbaijan capital, with unique challenges through the historic old city section of the track between turns eight and 15 makes for a thrilling spectacle.
Starting Grid
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc started from pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton who joined the Monegasque on the front row of the grid.
On row two, Championship leader Max Verstappen lined up alongside AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, the Red Bull driver had never scored a podium or led a lap around the Baku street circuit.
A dismal qualifying for Valtteri Bottas saw the Finn line up in 10th on the fifth row of the grid behind McLaren’s Lando Norris, who was handed a three-place grid drop for a red flag infringement during Saturday’s qualifying session.
Starting from the back of the grid were Lance Stroll and Antonio Giovinazzi as the duo crashed on separate occasions during Q1 which bought out two red flags over the duration of the session.
As It Happened
Off the line, it was pole-man Leclerc who got the holeshot as the top five made their way through turn one in single file.
At the start of lap two, Daniel Ricciardo made a bold move on his McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, into turn two as the Brit swiftly replied into the tricky turn three to try and regain lost time from the opening lap.
A superb first lap from Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi saw the Italian jump up six places from his starting position as he moved up to 13th.
At the end of the second lap, Hamilton breezed past the Ferrari of Leclerc and into the lead of the race down the never-ending main straight.
Esteban Ocon was the first retirement of the race, the Frenchman boxed after he suffered a mechanical failure at the end of lap three.
Verstappen had a good opportunity to overtake Leclerc into turn one with the assistance of DRS, but the Championship leader sensibly chose to back out of the move on lap four.
At the start of lap seven, Verstappen blitzed past Leclerc as he promoted himself into second. Over the course of the lap, Perez started to make inroads on Leclerc, before the Mexican mirrored his teammate’s move at the end of the lap.
Carlos Sainz was the first driver to run on into the escape roads. The Spaniard locked up his front left tyre on the approach to the castle section at turn eight.
Hamilton boxed and fitted the hard tyre with a slow stop compromising the Mercedes driver as he had to wait in his pit box for a safe release.
A lap later, Verstappen replied to Hamilton’s pitstop, and after a tidy two-second change, saw the Dutchman come out ahead of the seven-time world champion.
Despite a slow stop for Perez, the Mexican came out in a net second place ahead of Hamilton with race leader Vettel yet to stop.
This frustrated Hamilton who continued to complain on his team radio, this time about Perez’s planted rear grip as the Mexican continued pulling away from the Brit.
At the end of lap 18, Sebastian Vettel pitted which promoted Verstappen into the lead of the race.
Just before the halfway point of the race, Sainz executed a delightful move around the outside of Giovinazzi at turn two.
Sainz made another move up the order, this time over his compatriot Fernando Alonso into turn one at the start of lap 27 – another addition to the catalogue of tidy turn one overtakes.
Fifth-placed Lance Stroll suffered a heavy collision with the wall at the end of lap 30 which bought out the first safety car of the race. The Canadian rounded the final kink as his left-rear tyre gave way which sent him nose-first into the concrete barrier at high speed. Thankfully, the Aston Martin driver walked away from the crash.
On lap 34, still under safety car conditions, Stroll’s stricken car was cleared and the pit lane was re-opened. A handful of cars took advantage, including Mick Schumacher who grounded to a halt after his Haas car was rolled back due to an issue with his front left tyre.
The safety car came in on lap 35 and the race restarted. A smart restart strategy saw Verstappen lead into turn one ahead of teammate Perez and Hamilton.
Behind the leading trio, drama ensued as Gasly, Vettel and Leclerc jostled for fourth place but it was the Frenchman who came out on top until Vettel breezed past the AlphaTauri driver on the start of lap 37.
At the start of lap 39, Hamilton started to make in-roads on Perez in second, however, the Red Bull driver had enough horsepower to hold off the Brit.
Bottas’ misery continued as Giovinazzi relegated the Finn down to 14th place as George Russell started to catch up to the Mercedes driver
With 10 laps to go, Verstappen had a comfortable gap ahead of Perez in second, who continued to pull away from Hamilton in third.
On lap 43, Hamilton clocked the fastest lap of the race as he ran on the limit desperately trying to close in on Perez and break into his DRS range.
That extra fastest lap point was snatched straight back by leader Verstappen as the Dutchman posted the new fastest lap with six laps to go.
The very next lap, the Red Bull driver was sent into the barrier on the main straight. Similarly to Stroll, his tyre gave way and the devastated Dutchman had to walk back to the garage in disbelief.
This bought out the safety car with Sergio Perez in the lead, who was on course to secure his first top-three finish for Red Bull. Behind the Mexican, Lewis Hamilton was in second ahead of Sebastian Vettel in third.
After a couple of laps under the safety car, the race was red-flagged so that the trackside marshals had the chance to clear Verstappen’s wounded Red Bull as well as pieces of debris that were scattered across the pit straight.
Two laps remained, which meant either a two-lap sprint, a finish under the safety car or the race to be decided on ‘countback’ from the end of the last racing lap which would see Max Verstappen win.
After a 35-minute stoppage, race direction confirmed that the race would resume from a standing start.
From lights out Hamilton got a super start but locked up which sent him skidding down the escape road and plummeting down the order to P16.
In the top 10, Norris and Yuki Tsunoda battled for fifth as the pair ran side by side through sector one.
Alonso was swift to make up positions from the restart after starting 10th, the Alpine driver gate-crashed the battle for fifth as he overtook rookie Tsunoda.
At the end of lap 50, Leclerc utilised his Ferrari power and made a move on Gasly down the main straight and got himself into third, but the Frenchman replied at turn one.
In the end, it was Sergio Perez who took his second win in F1 and his first podium appearance since his switch to Red Bull.
Joining the Mexican on the podium was Sebastian Vettel, who secured his maiden rostrum finish in Aston Martin green and Pierre Gasly in third.
Leclerc, Norris, Alonso, Tsunoda, Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top 10 in what was a hectic race
Lewis Hamilton, who was hoping to pounce on Verstappen’s tyre failure came home in P16. His teammate, Valtteri Bottas, also had a torrid day at the office as the Finn came home in 12th.
What’s Next?
Formula One takes a two-week break before heading to Paul Ricard for the French Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen and Red Bull will be hoping to extend their leads at the summit of their respective standings.
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