Sergio Perez won the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in a Red Bull 1-2 snoozefest ahead of his teammate, Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claiming the third and final podium position.
Leclerc began the race in pole position but was only able to hold that position for three laps before first, Verstappen passed him, then Perez passed him on the sixth lap. From there it was appearing to be a Red Bull 1-2 with Verstappen in front of Perez but a Lap 11 crash from AlphaTauri’s Nick DeVries brought out a safety car which brought most of the race contenders into the pits and shuffled the order. Perez was able to take advantage of the safety car/pit stops to emerge in first place ahead of both Verstappen and Leclerc and never relinquished the lead from the Lap 14 restart onward.
Only seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton was the only one of the top eight drivers to make any overtakes from the Lap 14 restart – overtaking his Mercedes teammate George Russell on Lap 15 and then overtaking Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll on Lap 20 – to finish sixth overall. None of the other top eight drivers completed an overtake in the race’s final 37 laps.
The victory moved Perez to within eight points of Verstappen in the 2023 driver’s standings with Verstappen having 93 points to 87 for Perez with the next six spots also similarly tightly contested led by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso [60], Hamilton [48], Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Jr. [34], Leclerc [28], Russell [28] and Aston Martin’s Stroll with 27.
2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Top 10 Finishers
1] Sergio Perez – Red Bull
2] Max Verstappen – Red Bull
3] Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
4] Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin
5] Carlos Sainz, Jr. – Ferrari
6] Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
7] Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
8] George Russell – Mercedes
9] Esteban Ocon – Alpine
10] Lando Norris – McLaren
