Formula 1 is often a series sport, and we are not talking here about the successful adaptation put in place by Netflix since 2019, entitled Formula 1: Drivers of their destiny. Between the successes of Michael Schumacher (between 1994 and 2004), those of Sébastien Vettel (four consecutive world champion titles from 2010 to 2013), the Mercedes era (from 2014 to 2020) or, more recently, the victories of Max Verstappen – double reigning world champion – F1 races often designate the same winners.
But the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was until then an exception to the rule: since its appearance on the calendar in 2017, never a driver had managed to win there twice. It is now done, and the lucky winner is called Sergio Pérez. The Mexican drove his Red Bull to first place in the contested race in Baku on Sunday, April 30. He is ahead of his teammate, Max Verstappen, and, much further, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari). He signs his second success in the event, after his victory in 2021.
This huge success further confirms the superiority of the Red Bull riders over the rest of the peloton. The team’s two drivers have won all of the first four races of the season. It is the Dutchman who still occupies the first place in the championship, but his margin in the classification on his stable rival has melted under the great sun of Azerbaijan this weekend. He only has a six-point lead (a victory is worth twenty-five points).
The day before, it was already the Mexican who had been the strongest to win the sprint event after seventeen laps. Sunday’s race had three times as many, and did not offer the same twists and turns as the last Melbourne Grand Prix on April 2, which ended in confusion with two red flags – synonymous with an interruption of the race – in the last two laps of the race.
An uneventful Grand Prix
In Azerbaijan, the adventures were much less numerous. In addition to the rapid overtaking of Sergio Pérez and Max Verstappen on Charles Leclerc, who started from pole position, it was not until the tenth lap to see the race unbridled. Then in the lead, Verstappen decided to return to the pits quickly after the accident of his compatriot Nyck de Vries (Alpha Tauri), and did not take advantage of the safety car, which entered a few moments later, to make his stop when the drivers were forced to drive.
Result, he was doubled in the operation by his teammate and by Charles Leclerc. If the Ferrari driver did not resist the double world champion for long when the race restarted, Pérez managed to keep him at bay and spend the rest of the race quietly installed in first place. Only fear for “Checo”: a small blow in the wall on a badly negotiated turn at 34e lap, who ultimately did no damage to his single-seater. “I hit the wall and was very lucky the tire didn’t explode”confided Sergio Pérez, all smiles, before going to get the winner’s trophy.
After Verstappen, it’s Pérez who passes Leclerc 👀 #AzerbaijanGP #F1 https://t.co/6yyCXHCcCn
For Charles Leclerc, the law of the series also continues to wreak havoc. Starting from pole position in Baku for the third consecutive year, the Ferrari driver has never been on the pace of his two rivals and fails far from the first two positions. The Monegasque has never won in Azerbaijan and is still chomping at the bit in a difficult start to the season, after a 2022 season more marked by the poor tactical choices of his team than by results on the track.
“Yesterday, during the sprint race, we understood that it was going to be complicated today, because the Red Bulls are very fast in the race”, confided Leclerc, defeatist, to the organizers of the Grand Prix, a few minutes before the start. He will try to react next week, Sunday May 7, during the next Grand Prix, played in Miami.