Sergio Perez is within touching distance of Max Verstappen in the driver’s championship. Image: Red Bull Racing/twitter
Can Perez snatch the F1 Championship from Verstappen?
The street circuit maestro Sergio Perez managed to win the Azerbaijan Grands Prix and close in on Max Verstappen’s lead.
Sergio Perez is within touching distance of Max Verstappen in the driver’s championship. Image: Red Bull Racing/twitter
Sergio Perez closed the gap to his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen to just six points following his win at the Azerbaijan Grands Prix on Sunday.
The Mexican became the first-ever driver to win multiple Azerbaijan Grands Prix, holding off his teammate and thus retaining his reputation as a master of ‘street circuits.’
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Perez has cut Verstappen’s driver’s championship points to just six and is hungry for more wins.
Red Bulls are head and shoulders above all the teams and are likely to win the constructors’ championship by more than 200 points.
Starting third on the grid, Perez followed Verstappen past pole-sitter Charles Leclerc early on in the race, before staying on the tail of Verstappen as the Red Bull pair showed their dominance in the early stages.
Perez, who was in second, benefitted from a a Safety Car and was able to pit unlike Verstappen who’d boxed just before.
After the restart, the Mexican then drove an assured race to hold off Verstappen by 2.137s at the chequered flag, securing Red Bull’s third one-two finish of the season.
“It really worked out today for us,” said Perez after claiming his sixth career victory.
Perez has won two races already this season
“We managed to stay in the DRS [range], and we managed to keep the pressure on Max. I think we had better [degradation] on that first stint. It was looking good already from that side, then the Safety Car came and bunched everyone up and it was again another race on the hard tyre,” said the street circuit maestro.
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“I think it was very close between us,” he added of his battle with Verstappen. “He pushed to the maximum today. We both clipped the wall a few times – we were pushing out there. The way Max pushed me throughout the race was really hard but we managed to keep him under control.”
This was Red Bull’s third one-two of the season
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Perez will look to build on his’winning momentum when Formula One goes to Miami this weekend.
Miami International Autodrome is another street circuit that will suit the Mexican driver for sure.
