Verstappen and Perez overhauled pole-sitter Leclerc within the early levels. They proceeded to commerce the quickest lap occasions on the head of the sphere, with the defining second of the race coming when a Safety Car was deployed on both facet of the Red Bull drivers pitting.
With Verstappen pitting below yellow flags introduced out when Nyck de Vries stopped on observe and Perez coming in below a Safety Car that adopted, the Mexican cleared his teammate and rejoined the motion within the lead.
Verstappen fell to 3rd, that means he needed to overtake Leclerc once more. While that was a formality when the race resumed, he couldn’t make inroads on Perez through the run to the chequered flag and needed to accept second.
Leclerc held off a late cost from Fernando Alonso to take third, that means the two-time champion’s 2023 podium run ended – although fourth nonetheless represented one other robust haul of factors for the Aston Martin driver.
Carlos Sainz crossed the road fifth within the different Ferrari, warding off Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes within the closing levels, with the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll and Silver Arrow of George Russell selecting up minor factors after a detailed name within the pits early on.
Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg rose from the pit lane to carry points-paying positions for a lot of the race as they prolonged their first stints on arduous tyres. Still, late obligatory pit stops meant they have been banking on extra Safety Car drama that by no means arrived.
McLaren’s Lando Norris moved into the factors with a late transfer on Hulkenberg earlier than gaining one other spot when Ocon pitted. At the identical time, Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the highest 10 to salvage a end result for AlphaTauri.
Oscar Piastri, Alex Albon, Kevin Magnussen and Pierre Gasly all narrowly missed factors as they accomplished a detailed midfield pack forward of ultimate finishers Ocon, Logan Sargeant, Hulkenberg and Valtteri Bottas – the latter making three journeys to the pit lane amid tyre woes.
Bottas’ Alfa Romeo teammate, Zhou Guanyu, pulled into the pits late on with an unspecified technical difficulty, with De Vries the opposite retirement after his aforementioned go to to the wall at Turn 5 within the early levels, which prompted terminal harm.
With back-to-back Baku wins, which add to his 2021 Grand Prix victory on the venue, Perez cuts Verstappen’s championship result in single figures heading to the subsequent spherical of the season in Miami, which follows in every week’s time.
Perez, who additionally took house the Driver of the Day award, may have made up additional floor within the drivers’ standings had it not been for a late cease from Russell, who bolted on a set of softs to seize the quickest lap bonus level.
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