F1 Azerbaijan GP: ‘He pushed me throughout,’ Sergio Perez delighted after beating Max Verstappen to the punch in Baku

Sergio Perez admitted having pressure on his shoulders throughout the race as Max Verstappen stayed right behind the Mexican driver.

F1 Azerbaijan GP: ‘He pushed me throughout,’ Sergio Perez delighted after beating Max Verstappen to the punch in Baku

Sergio Perez, 2023 Azerbaijan GP

Sergio Perez came home to win the 2023 Azerbaijan GP. The Mexican driver started P3 for the race and managed to overtake the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc shortly after. Moreover, the 33-year-old jumped his teammate after the only round of pitstops by overcutting Max Verstappen during the Safety Car. This brings home Perez’s second win of the season.

Checo became the first F1 driver to win the Azerbaijan GP more than once. The Mexican driver highlighted his Sprint race victory to Damon Hill when the former world champion asked the Red Bull driver. Perez said, “2 and a half.” The 33-year-old acknowledged that things went as planned for Sergio as he could lap as fast as his teammate. He continued, “Yeah, it really worked out today for us. We managed to stay in the DRS range and we managed to keep the pressure on Max.”

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Max Verstappen tried to catch the Mexican driver throughout the race. Perez admitted this to be a major challenge as the 33-year-old had to fend off the two-time world champion. However, Sergio kept it under control. He explained, “I think it was very close between us, I mean we pushed to the maximum today. I mean we both clipped the wall a few times so we were pushing out there. The way Max pushed me throughout the race was really hard but we managed to keep him under control.”

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“I had a little bit of luck,” Sergio Perez said on touching the wall during the Azerbaijan GP

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Perez with his team members after the race

The Mexican driver pointed out his pace at the start of the race, with the Safety Car further making things easier for the 33-year-old. Sergio Perez explained, “I think we had better deg [tire degradation] on that first stint. It was looking good already from that time and then the safety car came and botched everyone up. So another race on the hard tire.”

Hill asked Perez about brushing the wall at Turn 15 during the race. Perez recognized that his car could have potentially incurred damage without luck going his way. Checo stated, “Really hard. I had a little bit of luck, especially with that front right.” Luckily, the 33-year-old did not lose out to Verstappen despite being too close to the barriers of the Azerbaijan GP.

Thus, Sergio Perez won the Azerbaijan GP despite Verstappen being far from the Mexican driver. The 33-year-old stayed calm throughout the race and sustained a gap that was good enough to secure his lead. This is the second win of the season for Checo as he now inches closer in the standings to Max. This could become an exciting title fight between the two Red Bull drivers.

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