Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez Wins F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez won on Sunday the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.

The victory in Azerbaijan’s capital city scored the second career win for the 31-year-old Mexican motorsport driver, who is in his debut season with Red Bull.

“I’m so so happy for today, normally Baku is pretty crazy,” Pérez said in a post-race interview.

“We were close to retiring the car, but luckily we managed to finish the race. Really it was quite difficult all the way until the end. This is definitely a strong boost of confidence for myself and for the team,” he added. 

The triumph for Pérez in Baku came after two of his strongest rivals – Mercedes-Benz’s Lewis Hamilton and his teammate Max Verstappen – struck accidental failures before reaching the finish line. Hamilton shot past Pérez in his attempt to win the race; however, he failed to break in the first corner, and his Mercedes derailed off the track. As a result, Hamilton finished the race in the 15th spot.

Finnish driver Max Verstappen, the leader in this season’s standings, crashed out of the race with just five laps to go the finish line. He spun and crashed on Lap 47 due to a tire issue on his car. Although he was unhurt, his bolide could not continue the race pushing him out of the lane.

Sebastian Vettel of the team Aston Martin and AlphaTauri team’s Pierre Gasly finished the Azerbaijan Grand Prix second and third respectively, behind Pérez. 

The race in Azerbaijan was the sixth round on this season’s Formula 1 calendar. The next stage of the championship will take place in Circuit Paul Ricard in France on June 18-20.

The first Formula One Grand Prix was held in Azerbaijan as the European Grand Prix in 2016 at the Baku City Circuit. A year later, in 2017, Baku City Circuit hosted the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The following episodes of the race in the country took place in April 2018 and April 2019. Last year’s tournament was postponed in March 2020 in a joint decision by the officials at BCC, FIA, and the government of Azerbaijan due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Baku City Circuit racetrack runs through several major streets of Baku, close to the main promenade on the Caspian Sea. Along with many long straights that make it the “fastest street circuit in the world,” the Baku circuit challenges the drivers with a very narrow section next to the Old City walls, a historical site in the center of Baku. Measured 6.003 kilometers in length, the Baku City Circuit is the second-longest on the current F1 calendar after Spa Francorchamps (7.004km) in Belgium.