‘Checo’ Perez clinches Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Madrid, Apr 30 (EFE).- Sergio Pérez, also known as Checo, Sunday clinched the Azerbaijan Grand Prix thus achieving his sixth Formula 1 victory.

This is the Red Bull driver’s second win at the Baku street circuit after he secured his second F1 win in 2021, cementing his status on urban circuits.

“It really worked out today for us,” Perez said after the race. “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,” he added.

Perez managed to hold off teammate Max Verstappen saying the race was “very close,” between them.

“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.”

Perez, who also took home driver of the day, also came first in Saturday’s sprint race.

No other driver came close to the Mexican’s record in the Azerbaijani capital, where in seven editions he has clinched two wins and three other podium positions.

Perez first secured an F1 victory in 2020, with Racing Point in the Sakhir Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) finished in fourth and fifth position respectively.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) finished sixth, just ahead of Lance Stroll, Alonso’s new teammate.

Mercedes driver George Russell came eighth, followed by Lando Norris (McLaren) and Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) who finished ninth and tenth.

The next race takes place in Miami (US) on Sunday, May 7.EFE

arh/ch