Today, the Formula 1 Azerbaijan GP with the motto “Expect the unexpected” has been held for the 7th time in our country. Although the weather was predicted to be drizzly, the weather turned clear before the race.
According to the results of the Qualifying session held earlier on Friday, Leclerc started in the first position, followed by Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, and Hamilton in the top 5. However, on the 11th lap, Perez was already moving ahead in the first place. Lap 10 was unsuccessful for Nyck de Vries from the AlfaTauri team – he could not make a turn at the corner on time, so got stuck and was eliminated from the race. Later on the same corner, Lance Stroll also skidded his tire to the wall, but continued moving ahead. After the lap 15th, the fight for first place was between Perez and Verstappen and continued in same manner until the end of the race.
At the first corner of 17th lap, Magnussen saved himself from nearly crashing at the last moment. Similarly, Lance Stroll successfully avoiding a crash on 19th lap.
At the Turn 15, firstly Verstappen, then his teammate skidded the tire to the wall, however could continue driving. Towards the end of the Grand Prix, the fight for victory was between them, and in the end, Verstappen had to give up the victory of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to Perez, falling 2 seconds behind. During the interview, Verstappen, said that the season is still long and that he learned a lot from this race. Also mentioned that although he lost to his teammate, it was a successful day for his team overall.
In his interview, Perez said that he was lucky and almost giving the victory due to skidding to the wall. An interesting fact is that the Mexican driver is the only pilot who has won more than once in Baku and has been on the podium 5 times in Azerbaijan.
Verstappen remains the leader in the championship with a total of 93 points by gaining 18 points, while his teammate Perez earned 23 points from this Grand Prix, with 87 points in overall this season.
In addition to the Formula 1 Grand Prix, the Formula 2 race is also held in Azerbaijan. The Feature race ended with T. Pourchaire in the 3rd, E. Fittipaldi in the 2nd, and O.Bearman in 1st place – winning the race.
Article/Photo: Nurlan Tahirli
