Red Bull Motorsports
F1
F1 to 10: What happened at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Sergio Pérez becomes the first driver to win multiple Grands Prix in Baku, with Oracle Red Bull Racing team-mate Max Verstappen making it a third 1-2 result for the team this year.
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1. Azerbaijan in exactly 74* words
Oracle Red Bull Racing continued its unbeaten start to 2023, with Sergio 'Checo' Pérez leading home Max Verstappen in Azerbaijan as the team won the first four races of a season for the first time in its 19-year history. The team's third 1-2 result this season was emphatic, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc finishing 21 seconds behind Pérez in third place to complete the Baku podium, denying Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso a fourth consecutive rostrum visit.
*2023 is the 74th season of the F1 world championship
2. The Azerbaijan GP in six pics
That's four races, three 1-2 results for Red Bull in 2023
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Pitting under safety car conditions handed Pérez the lead
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Verstappen was unlucky with the timing of his pit stop
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
De Vries' retirement turned the race on its head
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
3. Checo's two steps to the top step
For the second time in three years, Pérez was king of the castle in Baku
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Pérez's second win in Azerbaijan – he previously won in Baku in 2021 – continued a golden run for Red Bull at the fearsome street track. His 2.1-second victory represents the team's third in succession at the circuit and his sixth career win.
With so little to choose between the Mexican and Verstappen this season, the race turned on a Lap 10 safety car caused by the retirement of Scuderia AlphaTauri driver Nyck De Vries. Verstappen pitted from the lead as yellow flags initially covered his fellow Dutchman's off, but Pérez was able to pit from second place as a safety car was soon called, leapfrogging Verstappen in the pit stop phase.
Verstappen had to pass Leclerc for a second time when racing resumed on Lap 14. Still, Pérez kept his lead above at least 1.5 seconds for the remaining 41 laps, strolling to his second victory this year after winning in Saudi Arabia in round two.
Pérez's second GP win in Baku came after he won Saturday's 17-lap Sprint race, too, with Verstappen finishing third behind Leclerc after battling with car damage from an early-race skirmish with Mercedes driver George Russell.
4. Tsunoda stays the course to score
Tsunoda earned his world championship point the hard way
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Persistence paid off for AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda in Baku, the Japanese driver taking 10th for the final world championship point on the last lap when Alpine's Esteban Ocon made his sole pit stop of the race. It was just reward for Tsunoda – who also finished 10th in Australia last time out – after he qualified an outstanding eighth on Friday, AlphaTauri's upgrades for the second phase of the season unlocking some much-needed straight-line speed.
On the other side of the garage, De Vries' first F1 visit to Baku was more fraught; the Dutchman hit the Turn 3 barriers in qualifying to start last, had contact with Tsunoda on the first lap of the Saturday sprint, and then became one of two retirements in Sunday's Grand Prix proper when he clipped the Turn 5 wall and broke his front suspension, prompting the safety car that pushed Pérez into a lead he wouldn't relinquish.
5. The number you need to know
12 (years): Red Bull's second straight 1-2 result in Azerbaijan was the first time since Brazil 2010 and 2011, when Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber occupied the first two spots on the podium two years running, that the team has finished 1-2 at the same track in consecutive years.
6. The word from the paddock
It was very close between us … we both clipped the wall a few times. The way Max pushed me throughout the race was really hard, but we managed to keep it under control
7. The stats that matter
Drivers' championship top 5
Position
Driver
Team
Points
Gap
1
Max Verstappen
Oracle Red Bull Racing
93
-
2
Sergio Pérez
Oracle Red Bull Racing
87
-6
3
Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin
60
-33
4
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
48
-45
5
Carlos Sainz
Ferrari
34
-59
Constructors' championship top 5
Position
Team
Points
Gap
1
Oracle Red Bull Racing
180
-
2
Aston Martin
87
-95
3
Mercedes
76
-104
4
Ferrari
62
-118
5
McLaren
14
-166
8. Away from the track
At 67 years old and an F1 team principal of nearly two decades, Franz Tost is a champion trainer and an all-round force of nature. Hear from the Scuderia AlphaTauri team boss in Season 2, Episode 6 of the 'Why I Run' podcast and discover his three non-negotiables for better physical and mental health.
9. Where to next, and what do I need to know?
Round 5 in Miami, May 5-7
Circuit name/location: Miami International Autodrome, Miami Gardens
Length/laps: 5.412km, 57 laps
Grands Prix held/debut: 1, 2022
Most successful driver: Max Verstappen (one win)
Most successful team: Red Bull Racing (one win)
2022 podium: 1st: Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing), 2nd: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 3rd: Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
10. Inside the wide world of Red Bull Motorsports
Two-time Dakar Rally winner Austin Jones
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
Get to know American Austin 'AJ' Jones, the 27-year-old who looks set to be among the leading candidates to dominate off-road racing in the near future - back-to-back Dakar Rally victories will do wonders for your reputation...
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