Sergio Perez Outplays Pink Bull Teammate Max Verstappen for Azerbaijan Grand Prix Win

AZERBAIJAN: Sergio Perez of Pink Bull Racing emerged victorious within the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, successful the cat-and-mouse sport together with his teammate Max Verstappen.
The Mexican driver gained a psychological benefit over Verstappen with the assistance of a well timed security automobile.
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Nonetheless, it was not a simple win for Sergio Perez, as Verstappen saved up the strain and challenged him till the checkered flag.
The intra-team battle between Sergio Perez and Verstappen dominated Sunday’s race, with Charles Leclerc becoming a member of them on the rostrum with a third-place end.
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At the beginning of the race, all drivers besides Nyck de Vries lined up on the grid with medium Pirelli tyres.
Verstappen rapidly overtook pole-sitter Charles Leclerc with DRS enabled on lap 3, passing the Monegasque on the primary straight with the Ferrari clueless towards Pink Bull’s straight-line pace.
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Ten laps into the 51-lap race, Verstappen was main simply over a second forward of Perez.
Nonetheless, Sergio Perez pushed Verstappen into the wall, however each had been fortunate to get away with out damaging their automobiles.
Verstappen, nonetheless, complained of engine braking points and pitted whereas main the race.
Nyck de Vries hit the boundaries and broke his suspension, bringing out the protection automobile. Perez, together with Leclerc, Sainz, Alonso, Russell, and Stroll, pitted from the lead.
After the highest ten pitted, Verstappen was as much as third, whereas Hamilton, who pitted for recent tyres the lap earlier than De Vries’ crash, was down in tenth.
Sergio Perez resumed the race within the lead, with Verstappen taking second place off Leclerc.
Nonetheless, 30 laps into the race, Verstappen all of the sudden dropped over two seconds behind Perez.
After a tense 37 laps of being challenged by Verstappen, Perez secured the victory forward of his teammate, closing the hole within the Drivers’ Championship to single digits.
Leclerc joined them on the rostrum, marking Ferrari’s first podium results of the season.
Alonso completed fourth, with Sainz and Hamilton in fifth and sixth place, respectively. Stroll completed seventh forward of Russell, whereas Norris and Tsunoda accomplished the factors.
Ocon pitted on the penultimate lap, coming in for his necessary cease whereas the race marshals had already come into the pit lane ready for the Grand Prix’s finish.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix was an exciting and intently contested race, with Perez outplaying Verstappen.
With the championship race heating up, it will likely be fascinating to see if Perez can proceed his momentum within the upcoming races.
Additionally Learn: Sergio Perez Raises Considerations over Harmful Gentle Situations at Australian Grand Prix