Sergio Perez claims the first victory at Baku City Circuit.

Sergio Perez performed fantastically during the first Sprint race of the season at the Baku City Circuit on Saturday. He secured the victory, beating Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen to the chequered flag and earning the maximum eight points.

Action-packed 

The race was action-packed from start to finish, and the new ‘Shootout’ qualifying session set the grid for the 17-lap dash. The weather was pleasant, and the spectators were treated to some exciting racing. F1’s Sprint format will be revised for 2023; we can’t wait to see what changes lie ahead.

However, Logan Sargeant, a newcomer to F1, did not participate in the race. Unfortunately, he crashed during the Shootout and had to withdraw from the 100-kilometre Sprint due to the severe damage his Williams car sustained. 

On the other hand, the grid was down one car after Alpine had to make suspension changes on Esteban Ocon’s car under parc ferme conditions. The team had a difficult time over the weekend on the Caspian Sea’s shores.

At the start of the race, the lights turned on one by one and eventually went out. All the drivers were on medium tyres except for Lando Norris and Valtteri Bottas, who opted for soft tyres.

Despite Perez’s strong performance, pole-sitter Leclerc managed to maintain his lead into Turn 1, with Perez settling for second place. It was an exciting start to the race, and fans couldn’t wait to see what would happen next on the track.

Battle

The race was an intense start, with Verstappen and Russell battling it out behind the front runners. They were neck-and-neck through the first few corners, but Russell managed to edge ahead of Verstappen at Turn 3. 

However, Verstappen was unhappy with the move and radioed his team to complain about Russell’s aggressive tactics. 

Upon reviewing the replay, it was clear that there was contact between the two cars, and Verstappen even hit the wall in the process. It was disappointing for the Red Bull driver, but the race was far from over, and there was still plenty of time to make a comeback.

During the race, Verstappen caused a stir by requesting an FIA investigation. Meanwhile, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda crashed into the wall at Turn 13 after colliding with his teammate Nyck de Vries. The debris from the incident, including Tsunoda’s rear-right tire, caused a Virtual Safety Car to be deployed. 

Unfortunate Tsunoda

Charles Leclerc led the pack, followed by Perez, Russell, Verstappen, and Sainz. Fernando Alonso managed to overtake Alex Albon’s Williams and catch up to Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes.

Tsunoda was quite unfortunate during the race, losing one of his wheels. He somehow managed to get back to the pits, and the mechanics tried to fix the issue. 

However, when he got back on the track, it was clear that the damage was too severe. This led to the Safety Car being deployed, and Ocon used this opportunity to make a pit stop and switch to softs.

How did that happen?

As Bernd Maylander led the way, Red Bull contacted Verstappen to inquire about possible floor damage. “How did that happen?” Verstappen asked. 

His engineer’s response was straightforward: “How do you think?” This only irritated Verstappen, who exclaimed, “I can’t believe he’s able to maintain his position while damaging my car simultaneously.”

During the race, there were some concerns for Leclerc, who reported a “cut” on the radio. However, it was later confirmed to be a cat. Despite this, Leclerc quickly turned his attention to the race restart, which took place at the end of Lap 5. 

The Safety Car left the track, and the green flag signalled the race’s resumption. Leclerc maintained his lead at Turn 1, while Perez held second place. 

Strong comeback

Verstappen made a strong comeback after his disappointing opening lap, overtaking Russell to secure the final podium spot. Overall, it was an exciting and well-contested race.

Sainz defended his position well and kept his fifth place intact. Meanwhile, Alonso seized the opportunity and overtook Hamilton to reach sixth place. 

Albon was a little behind and held the last position to earn him points. Stroll and Norris were also in the mix, keeping pace with Albon. 

As the race continued, Perez closed in on Leclerc and used the DRS to overtake him cleanly on the long start/finish straight. This happened on Lap 8, with Verstappen just a little behind, about one and a half seconds away.

Perez, the smooth dominator

Perez made a smooth move as he left Leclerc behind, and all the attention turned towards Verstappen in third place. Verstappen picked up the pace and started to lap much faster than Leclerc, putting pressure on the double pole-sitter of the weekend. 

Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri overtook his teammate Norris to move up to 10th, and Norris’ choice to begin the race on soft tires was quickly abandoned in favour of a second stint on mediums. Ocon also followed suit with a double stop, while Bottas reported that his red-marked rubber was beginning to melt.

Exciting race

The race was exciting as Stroll managed to find a way past Albon into Turn 1, taking the final point on offer. Magnussen and Hulkenberg battled for the 11th position in their Haas machines. 

However, Perez maintained his composure up front and took the chequered flag almost five seconds clear of Leclerc, who managed to keep Verstappen at bay for the runner-up spot. 

Russell and Sainz followed closely in fourth and fifth places, respectively, with Alonso, Hamilton and Stroll securing the remaining points on offer, denying Albon and Piastri a spot on the podium.

Magnussen 

Ultimately, Magnussen spearheaded Haas’ efforts with a commendable finish in 11th place. On the other hand, Hulkenberg had a tough time with his tyres, slipping down to 15th position towards the end of the race. 

As a result, Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu, as well as Pierre Gasly and De Vries from Alpine and AlphaTauri, respectively, were able to overtake him. Bottas, who chose not to switch to medium tyres, finished a distant 16th, with Norris and Ocon bringing up the rear. 

Unfortunately, Tsunoda was unable to continue racing after his early accident.

Formula 1 Sprint at Azerbaijan 2023 GP

Source: F1