Aight valuable world championship points and a large portion of self-confidence are his reward: Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez wins the first sprint race of the year in Formula 1, on one of the most spectacular slopes, the Baku City Circuit. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) finished second in the short race over 100 kilometers. World champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) finished third. Nico Hülkenberg from the Rhineland finished 15th in the Haas.
“Ferrari belongs at the top, I’ll give everything to win,” Leclerc announced three and a half hours before the start of the sprint. Before that, he had won the qualifying called the Sprint Shootout, which was held for the first time, despite a moment of shock when the Monegasse shortly before the end slid into the wall and destroyed the front wing of his SF-23.
“We all had no grip”
The Red Bull drivers had to be content with positions two and three, Verstappen ended up behind Pérez. The Dutchman had complained on the radio about insufficient grip on the rear axle, especially in the second sector.
At the start of the thirty-minute race, most of the drivers put on the medium-hard tyres, only Valtteri Bottas (Sauber) and Lando Norris (McLaren) had put on the soft Pirellis. Leclerc initially maintained the lead, Pérez stayed behind, Verstappen suffered a setback early on: Mercedes driver George Russell squeezed past the world champion on the first lap, who scolded the radio and accused the competitor of having played unfairly.
Indeed: Russell went about his maneuver in turn 3 rustically to work, both cars touched each other. “Ridiculous,” Verstappen said angrily: “How can he drive into my side and still be allowed to keep his position?”. His box informed him that the underbody of the RB 19 was damaged. Immediately after the race, the competitors met: “I didn’t have any grip,” explained Russell, referring to the tires that were still cold shortly after the start. “We all had no grip, remember that for next time, moron!” Verstappen replied angrily. He later said: “I don’t understand why he takes such a risk in the first round. He put a hole in my side box.”
Just a few moments after this duel, the race was neutralized on the third lap: a single rear tire rolled lonely across the track without a rim. He became self-employed because Yuki Tsunoda touched the wall in his Alpha Tauri and also scattered many small parts on the slope.
Tsunoda “limped” to the pits, got a new bike and drove out again, but the lane of his company car was blocked and he had to give up. Lewis Hamilton meanwhile let it be known: “No more parts on the track!” It was therefore possible to continue after three laps behind the safety car. And Verstappen immediately returned the favor to Russell and regained third place. “Great work, Max!” His team praised him over the radio: “And without touching it!” The world champion answered quick-witted: “Yes, I know how it works!”. So unlike Russell.
At the top, Pérez was now putting massive pressure on the leading Leclerc, who had already predicted on Friday evening that it would be difficult to stay ahead of Red Bull in race trim.
At the beginning of the eighth lap, the Mexican started to overtake with the rear wing folded in. The 2.2-kilometer home straight is predestined for this. Smart enough not to resist desperately, Leclerc let Pérez go and focused on keeping Verstappen behind him. But five laps from the end, the world champion still hadn’t found a way past the Ferrari, the accident damage from the collision with Russell hampered the performance of his company car.
Little was happening behind it either. Russell, Sainz, Alonso, Hamilton and Stroll scored the remaining points in fourth through eighth and had a fairly uneventful race without being able to endanger each other.
Two laps before the end, Verstappen approached Leclerc again, Pérez had meanwhile been able to move away by more than three seconds, Leclerc saved his tires. But the world champion was no longer within striking distance and crossed the finish line in third place.
At the Grand Prix on Sunday (1 p.m. CEST in the FAZ live ticker for Formula 1 and on Sky), Leclerc will start from first place in Baku for the third year in a row. However, the course of the sprint makes it unlikely that Ferrari can seriously fight Red Bull. “We knew Red Bull was ahead of us in the race, but we made a big step forward. If we can’t win, we want to get the maximum out of it,” said the Monegasse.
The fact that Formula 1 announced shortly before the start of the sprint that it would continue to circle the temporarily constructed track in the historic center of the Azerbaijani capital for the next three years should have made the Monegasques particularly happy.
The main race consists of 51 laps. Last year Verstappen won, but so far no driver has won more than once in Baku, six editions of the race on the Caspian Sea saw six different winners. And: The later winner only started the race from pole position twice, most recently in 2019 by the then Mercedes driver Bottas.