Formula 1: The issue that almost cost Sergio Perez the win
By Asher Fair
Sergio Perez nearly had to retire his car before pulling off a shock victory in Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, his first of the 2021 Formula 1 season.
Late in Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku City Circuit, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen appeared poised to secure back-to-back victories for the first time in his Formula 1 career.
He led the race comfortably ahead of teammate Sergio Perez in second place and championship rival Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes in third, positioning himself to secure his third win of the season and the 13th win of his career to extend his newly acquired lead in the driver standings.
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But with just over five laps remaining in this 51-lap race around the 20-turn, 3.73-mile (6.003-kilometer) temporary street circuit in Azadliq Square, Baku, Azerbaijan, disaster struck.
A tire issue sent Verstappen spinning into the wall on the front straightaway, ending his race.
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That promoted Perez to the lead and Hamilton to second place. The red flag came out, and the remaining cars in the field were brought into the pits before the race was restarted with two laps remaining.
On the ensuing standing start, Hamilton briefly took the lead from Perez, but he locked up his brakes and went sailing into the turn one runoff area, taking him out of contention. Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel slid up to second place but was unable to challenge Perez, resulting in the 31-year-old Mexican securing his second career victory.
But even with Hamilton out of the picture, a victory for Perez was far from a sure thing.
After the race, Perez was instructed to stop his car at pit exit after crossing the finish line, forcing him to walk back to parc ferme. He later stated that the team “were close to retiring the car”, and team principal Christian Horner revealed the issue that nearly caused the retirement.
Here is what Perez had to say after the race.
"“First of all I have to say I’m very sorry for Max because he did a tremendous race, and he really deserved that the win It would have been incredible to get that 1-2 for the team. But at the end, you know it is a fantastic day for us. We were close to retiring the car, but luckily we managed to finish the race. And really, it was quite difficult all the way until the end.”"
Horner added the following.
"“He was nursing an hydraulic issue as well that we were really concerned that the car wouldn’t get to the end of the race, which is why he stopped after the checkered flag. You thought that we could only lose when they got the restart, but thankfully it all worked out tremendously well, and Sergio did a great, great job.”"
But instead, Perez fully capitalized on the misfortunes of Verstappen and Hamilton, and that netted Red Bull 25 points in their constructor championship battle with Mercedes, which failed to score with Valtteri Bottas finishing in 12th place and Hamilton finishing in 15th.
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Through six races, Red Bull lead the constructor standings by 26 points over Mercedes, and Verstappen holds the same four-point lead in the driver standings over Hamilton that he held entering the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The French Grand Prix is the next race on the schedule, and it is set to be broadcast live on ESPN from Circuit Paul Ricard beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, June 20.