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Charles Bradley

F1 race results: Sergio Perez wins Azerbaijan GP in Red Bull 1-2

Perez benefited when team-mate Max Verstappen pitted just before a safety car, which cost him two places.

Before that, Verstappen had passed Ferrari’s pole-winner Charles Leclerc to take the lead at the start of lap 4 and pulled away. A safety car was called after Verstappen made his pitstop, dropping him to third as his rivals pitted under yellow.

Despite quickly repassing Leclerc, Verstappen dropped out of Perez’s DRS range and never got within striking distance.

2023 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix results

Cla Driver Laps Time Gap Interval Points
1 Mexico Sergio Perez 51 1:32'42.436     25
2 Netherlands Max Verstappen 51 1:32'44.573 2.137 2.137 18
3 Monaco Charles Leclerc 51 1:33'03.653 21.217 19.080 15
4 Spain Fernando Alonso 51 1:33'04.460 22.024 0.807 12
5 Spain Carlos Sainz 51 1:33'27.927 45.491 23.467 10
6 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 51 1:33'28.581 46.145 0.654 8
7 Canada Lance Stroll 51 1:33'34.053 51.617 5.472 6
8 United Kingdom George Russell 51 1:33'56.676 1'14.240 22.623 5
9 United Kingdom Lando Norris 51 1:34'02.812 1'20.376 6.136 2
10 Japan Yuki Tsunoda 51 1:34'06.298 1'23.862 3.486 1
11 Australia Oscar Piastri 51 1:34'08.937 1'26.501 2.639  
12 Thailand Alex Albon 51 1:34'11.059 1'28.623 2.122  
13 Denmark Kevin Magnussen 51 1:34'12.165 1'29.729 1.106  
14 France Pierre Gasly 51 1:34'13.768 1'31.332 1.603  
15 France Esteban Ocon 51 1:34'20.230 1'37.794 6.462  
16 United States Logan Sargeant 51 1:34'23.379 1'40.943 3.149  
17 Germany Nico Hulkenberg 50 1 lap      
18 Finland Valtteri Bottas 50 1 lap      
  China Zhou Guanyu 36        
  Netherlands Nyck de Vries 9        

How the 2023 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix unfolded

Leclerc held his pole position advantage into Turn 1, leading ahead of Verstappen and Perez.

Verstappen stayed in DRS range of Leclerc and blasted ahead of him at the start of lap 4, while Perez repeated that move on Leclerc two laps later, making it a Red Bull 1-2.

Behind the Ferraris of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes suffered tyre graining and came under attack from Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, Hamilton diving for the pits just before he was overtaken.

Verstappen pitted under green on lap 11, as Nyck de Vries’s AlphaTauri stopped on track and caused a safety car moments later. Perez, who was right behind Verstappen before the stops, benefited by pitting a lap later under yellow – meaning Perez and Leclerc got ahead of Verstappen.

Ferrari and Aston Martin double-stacked their cars, which allowed George Russell (Mercedes) to jump Lance Stroll (Aston).

The race went green again on lap 14, Perez leading Leclerc, Verstappen, Sainz, Alonso, Russell and Stroll. Hamilton was the big loser, dropping from his earlier fifth to 10th.

Verstappen outbraked Leclerc for second at Turn 3, as Stroll overtook Russell moments later, and Alonso passed Sainz at Turn 4. A lap later, Hamilton outbraked Russell at Turn 1 to get ahead of team-mate.

Stroll hit the wall at Turn 5, the same mistake as de Vries had made, but his left-front corner survived. Hamilton passed Stroll for sixth, after Lance ran wide at Turn 16. Hamilton then set his sights on Sainz but just couldn’t find a way past.

At the front, Perez had one brush of the wall at Turn 15, but maintained his lead over Verstappen for his second victory of the weekend after his sprint win on Saturday. Leclerc was a distant third, as he stayed out of Alonso’s range.

Sainz held off Hamilton, as did Stroll with Russell – who made a late pitstop for softs, which produced an extra point fastest lap on the final tour.

There was late drama as Esteban Ocon, who started his Alpine from the pit lane, pitted on the final lap and found people running across the lane. Fortunately, they got out of the way just in time.

2023 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix fastest laps

Cla Driver Lap Time Gap Interval km/h
1 United Kingdom George Russell 51 1'43.370     209.062
2 Netherlands Max Verstappen 51 1'44.232 0.862 0.862 207.333
3 Spain Fernando Alonso 49 1'44.241 0.871 0.009 207.315
4 Monaco Charles Leclerc 49 1'44.561 1.191 0.320 206.681
5 Mexico Sergio Perez 50 1'44.589 1.219 0.028 206.625
6 Spain Carlos Sainz 48 1'45.175 1.805 0.586 205.474
7 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 48 1'45.346 1.976 0.171 205.141
8 France Pierre Gasly 47 1'45.540 2.170 0.194 204.764
9 Canada Lance Stroll 45 1'45.627 2.257 0.087 204.595
10 Australia Oscar Piastri 51 1'45.631 2.261 0.004 204.587
11 Japan Yuki Tsunoda 51 1'45.727 2.357 0.096 204.401
12 United Kingdom Lando Norris 49 1'45.738 2.368 0.011 204.380
13 Denmark Kevin Magnussen 51 1'45.850 2.480 0.112 204.164
14 France Esteban Ocon 49 1'45.908 2.538 0.058 204.052
15 Thailand Alex Albon 51 1'45.925 2.555 0.017 204.019
16 Finland Valtteri Bottas 36 1'46.304 2.934 0.379 203.292
17 United States Logan Sargeant 49 1'46.501 3.131 0.197 202.916
18 Germany Nico Hulkenberg 34 1'46.731 3.361 0.230 202.479
19 China Zhou Guanyu 31 1'47.553 4.183 0.822 200.931
20 Netherlands Nyck de Vries 4 1'48.781 5.411 1.228 198.663

2023 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix tyre strategy

Cla Driver 1 2 3 4
1 Mexico Sergio Perez M 11 H 40        
2 Netherlands Max Verstappen M 10 H 41        
3 Monaco Charles Leclerc M 11 H 40        
4 Spain Fernando Alonso M 11 H 40        
5 Spain Carlos Sainz M 11 H 40        
6 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton M 9 H 42        
7 Canada Lance Stroll M 11 H 43        
8 United Kingdom George Russell M 11 H 38 S 2    
9 United Kingdom Lando Norris M 9 H 42        
10 Japan Yuki Tsunoda M 8 H 43        
11 Australia Oscar Piastri M 8 H 43        
12 Thailand Alex Albon M 7 H 44        
13 Denmark Kevin Magnussen M 10 H 41        
14 France Pierre Gasly M 5 H 18 H 28    
15 France Esteban Ocon H 50 S 1        
16 United States Logan Sargeant M 8 H 43        
17 Germany Nico Hulkenberg H 49 S 1        
18 Finland Valtteri Bottas M 6 H 6 H 22 M 16
  China Zhou Guanyu M 11 H 25        
  Netherlands Nyck de Vries H 9            
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