Sergio Perez takes victory for Red Bull ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in Baku Sprint; Max Verstappen third after being angered by first-lap collision with George Russell; watch the Azerbaijan GP live on Sky Sports F1 at 12pm on Sunday, with build-up from 10:30am
Sunday 30 April 2023 09:51, UK
Sergio Perez passed pole-sitter Charles Leclerc to win the first Sprint of the 2023 season at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Having taken pole in F1's first-ever Sprint Shootout qualifying session earlier on Saturday, Ferrari's Leclerc, who will also start Sunday's full-length race on pole, was unable to hold off the pace of Red Bull's Perez in the 17-lap contest at the Baku City Circuit.
Leclerc narrowly held off the other Red Bull of Max Verstappen for second, after the world championship leader suffered damage following a first-lap collision with Mercedes' George Russell, who finished fourth.
Carlos Sainz was fifth for Ferrari, while Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso passed Lewis Hamilton to take sixth at a Safety Car restart caused by Yuki Tsunoda losing a tyre.
Alonso's team-mate Lance Stroll took the final point available in eighth after recovering from dropping to 10th on the opening lap.
Red Bull's apparent long-run advantage suggests Leclerc faces a tough task to keep hold of the first place he earned in the Friday qualifying session that set the grid for Sunday's race.
Verstappen will start alongside Leclerc on the front row on Sunday, while Sprint winner Perez will begin in third.
Azerbaijan GP Sprint Result: Top 10
1) Sergio Perez, Red Bull (8 points)
2) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (7 points)
3) Max Verstappen, Red Bull (6 points)
4) George Russell, Mercedes (5 points)
5) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari (4 points)
6) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin (3 points)
7) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (2 points)
8) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin (1 point)
9) Alexander Albon, Williams
10) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Verstappen has been outspoken in his criticism of the new F1 Sprint weekend format that is debuting in Azerbaijan, but quickly disproved his own suggestion that drivers would be unwilling to take risks in the 100km Saturday contest that offers significantly less points than Sunday's race.
As Leclerc got away cleanly to lead Perez into the first corner, Verstappen came under immediate pressure from Russell and a thrilling battle ensued through the opening corners.
With the pair going wheel-to-wheel, Russell locked up going into Turn 2 and went into the side of Verstappen, before eventually passing the Red Bull at Turn 3.
The side of Verstappen's car was left with a hole in it, and the Dutchman fumed over team radio: "Did he really drive into the side? I don't understand how he can keep the position and he is damaging my car!"
Verstappen would continue to complain over team radio for several laps, and then confronted Russell at the end of the race, before the pair criticised each other while speaking to the media.
Behind them, Tsunoda suffered damage to his front wing in a collision with his AlphaTauri team-mate Nyck de Vries before losing control of his car, hitting a barrier and then losing his right rear tyre, causing a Virtual Safety Car.
Tsunoda limped back to the pits and was then released back on track by the AlphaTauri mechanics, only for it to become clear there remained significant damage on the car, which would force him to retire and lead to a stewards' investigation into why he was initially sent back out.
A full Safety Car was eventually required to enable all the debris on track to be cleared, and the race would only restart at the end of lap 6.
Leclerc controlled the rolling resumption to retain the lead, but behind him and Perez, Russell was left exposed and immediately overtaken by Verstappen, while behind them Hamilton, attempting to pass Sainz, ended up losing a place to Alonso.
Perez crucially managed to stay within a second of Leclerc in the lap following the restart, and once he was allowed to use Red Bull's field-leading DRS at the end of lap 7, cruised past the Ferrari as they crossed the start-finish line.
Leclerc managed to stay within a second for several laps, but eventually his focus would switch to the closing Verstappen behind him.
The Dutchman got within DRS range on the final lap, but Leclerc had just enough life left in his tyres to hang on.
Perez's victory further enhances the Mexican's reputation at street circuits, and adds another honour to the four podiums he has previously secured in Baku.
The result sees Verstappen, who is seeking a third successive world championship, have his lead over Perez at the top of the drivers' standings reduced to 13 points.
While Leclerc ended Red Bull's run of pole positions at each of the first three races of the season, the reigning constructors' champions will go into the race confident of maintaining their perfect record on Sundays.
"It confirms a little bit what we thought," Leclerd said. "The Red Bulls still have the upper hand in the race.
"We, again, must not forget how far we were behind in race pace two races ago. We did a step forward. We are still not where we want to be, but if winning is not possible then we just need to take the maximum points.
"We will try to go for the win tomorrow, even though the Red Bull seems a bit quicker."
Formula 1 is back! Watch the Azerbaijan Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 on Sunday, build-up from 10.30am with lights out at 12pm. Get Sky Sports
