Perez wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Sergio Perez made it a weekend to remember at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, adding victory on Sunday to his win in Saturday’s sprint.

The Mexican crossed the line ahead of teammate Max Verstappen, while Charles Leclerc completed the podium in Baku.

Leclerc got off the line well at the start of the race, but the superior pace of the Red Bull soon made an impact, as Verstappen cruised past the Ferrari, before Perez followed a couple of laps later.

Lewis Hamilton the first of the front running drivers to make his pitstop, with Verstappen being told to box a couple of laps later.

But as the reigning champion had committed to coming into the pitlane, Nyck DeVries clipped the wall, resulting in a safety car.

As a result, Perez and the Ferrari duo were able to come in for new tyres under the safety car, allowing Perez and Leclerc to get ahead of Verstappen in the pits.

Despite having stopped before the safety car, Hamilton made good progress once the safety car had ended, getting ahead of teammate George Russell, while Fernando Alonso managed to squeeze ahead of Carlos Sainz.

Lance Stroll struggled to find the right balance in his car, twice clipping the wall, but the Canadian managed to avoid too much damage, and Perez also made contact with the barrier at turn 15, while Guanyu Zhou became the second driver to retire when his car encountered a technical issue.

Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon both start the race in the pits after making changes to their cars overnight, and both held off making a pitstop until the final few laps of the race.

Ocon waited until the final lap of the race to come in, and had to take evasive action in the pitlane as photographers and track officials had started to gather around the parc ferme area under the podium, blocking the Frenchman’s route to his pit box.

Russell also made a late pitstop, enabling him to set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap, securing a bonus point.

Provisional classification:

1 Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

4. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

6. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

7. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

8. George Russell (Williams)

9. Lando Norris (McLaren)

10. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)

11. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

12. Alex Albon (Williams)

13. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

14. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

15. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

16. Logan Sargeant (Williams)

17. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

18. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)

DNF:

Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo)

Nyck DeVries (AlphaTauri)