MOTORSPORT: F1 carnage in Azerbaijan

Sergio Perez scored a breakthrough win with Red Bull as championship rivals Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton both crashed out in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The street race in Baku produced an extraordinary podium as Perez led Sebastian Vettel of Aston Martin and Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri to the flag in a wild two-lap final sprint.

Verstappen was heading for a predictable win in the dying stages of the race until a rear tyre failure on his Red Bull that pitched him heavily into the concrete wall on the main straight at more than 300km/h, triggering a red flag stoppage by Aussie race director Michael Masi to allow for a clean-up crew to remove the wreckage.

Perez and Hamilton resumed the race from the front row but their battle was over in less than 150 metres as the Mercedes-Benz driver went too late onto the brakes, firing straight ahead at the first corner and opening the way for an ecstatic Mexican to win for the team which save him from F1 oblivion ahead of this year’s championship.

Baku was a miserable failure for Daniel Ricciardo, who was again outpaced by his McLaren teammate Lando Norris after crashing in qualifying and could only manage a ninth-place finish.

“We love Baku. It feels amazing to get my first win with Red Bull,” said Perez.

Perez has been improving steadily at his new team and turned the corner in Azerbaijan, becoming a genuine contender in the leading pack and a solid wing man for Verstappen, in sharp contrast to Mercedes’ number two Valtteri Bottas who continues to struggle.

“Of course I am frustrated from my side not to win, but I was very happy to see Checo up there. He did everything that the team could have wanted today,” said Verstappen.

Pirelli has already begun an investigation into Verstappen’s tyre failure, and a similar problem for Lance Stroll of Aston Martin, but is already pointing towards damage from debris on the track.

For Vettel, a four-times world champion who has also battled through his demotion from Ferrari, the first modern podium finish with Aston Martin was cathartic.

“I am over the moon and P2 means a great deal to all of us. I felt good in the car, and combined with on-track events and strategy, we were able to get a really special result,” Vettel said.

“We did not expect to be on the podium, but we made great progress through the weekend, and the car had strong race pace. I was relaxed and confident going into the race.”

Ferrari, which had been fast through practice as Charles Leclerc qualified on pole position for the second straight race, was completely swamped in the race and the Leclerc could only finish fifth behind McLaren’s Lando Norris.

“Despite starting at the front, we knew we could well be overtaken by the cars of the two frontrunning teams, which is what happened,” said Leclerc.

After another difficult weekend at McLaren, Ricciardo was more interested in looking ahead.

“We’ll keep working on our plan and keep moving forward,” he said.

The other Australian driver in action in Baku, Oscar Piastri, came away from the weekend with a solid second place in the FIA Formula 2 championship.

He failed to finish the first of three races but bounced back with two podiums, including second in the F2 feature race, after arriving in Azerbaijan following another Formula 1 test run with the Alpine team.

The F1 world championship continues with the French Grand Prix at the Paul Ricard circuit on June 20.

2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix results:

2021 Formula 1 driver standings:Verstappen, 105

Hamilton, 101
Perez, 69
Norris, 66
Leclerc, 52
Bottas, 47
Sainz, 42
Gasly, 31
Vettel, 28
Ricciardo, 26