- Sergio Perez is the F1 driver with all the momentum on his side going into this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
- Coming off his win in Monaco, Perez also won the 2021 edition of the race held around the streets of Baku.
- With 15 points separating him and Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen, Perez is in the 2022 championship fight.
Sergio Perez is the man of the moment in Formula 1. Just ahead of his first win in Monaco, the Mexican signed a new deal with Red Bull F1 that will see him in the team until the end of the 2024 season. The signing surely invigorated the driver throughout the race weekend in the Principality, which showed in his performances from the first practice session.
The win was Perez’s third in F1 – making him the most successful Mexican driver in the sport’s history – and puts him just 15 points behind teammate and championship leader Max Verstappen in this year’s title race. Heading to this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prixrun through the streets of Baku, Perez has all the momentum on his side to possibly register the fourth win of his career.
But the Monaco win is not the only momentum on Perez’s side. Azerbaijan 2021 would still be fresh in his mind.
Sergio Perez after winning the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Pick up the pieces
2021 was Perez’s first season as a Red Bull driver. Hot off his win at the 2020 Sakhir GP, the driver entered into talks with Red Bull, and soon an agreement was struck. A few months into his Red Bull deal, he won the Azerbaijan GP after bad luck befell several drivers, including Verstappen and Mercedes-AMG’s Lewis Hamilton.
Perez did not have the greatest of qualifying sessions. Starting in seventh place, he had his work cut out if he was to have any say in the race’s outcome. Red Bull didn’t have much hope of seeing their new recruit on the podium, either, let him alone win the race. But Perez had a brilliant start and found himself in fourth place behind Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Hamilton, and Verstappen after just a couple of corners.
READ: Sergio Perez’s new Red Bull deal is a no-brainer as a team ensures future successes
By Lap 14/51, the leading drivers had all made their pit stops and were it Sebastian Vettel (yet to stop) in the Aston Martin leading from Verstappen, Perez, and Hamilton. Leclerc, in an underperforming Ferrari, had fallen by the wayside. On Lap 31, Lance Stroll, Vettel’s teammate, suffered a puncture, bringing out the safety car. With Vettel now in sixth, having pitted, the top three were unchanged.
More drama unfolded at the end of Lap 46 as Verstappen suffered a similar fate to Stroll. The Red Bull driver crashed out, and the race was (eventually) red-flagged as the marshals cleared the track. The GP restarted on Lap 50/51, with Perez now ahead of Hamilton and Vettel. Hamilton got a great launch off the line, but failed to activate the car’s correct starting procedure. When he braked into Turn 1, his car continued straight, sending him out of the race completely.
Perez went on to win the race – the second of his F1 career – with Vettel in second and Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) in third.
Sergio Perez and Red Bull team boss, Christian Horner (right)
With this in mind…
Going into the 2022 edition of the Azerbaijan GP, Perez comes off a win in Monaco, and he is the last driver to have reigned supreme around the streets of Baku. He has found a sweet spot with his 2022 car and is giving Verstappen a challenge. The last time it happened was when Daniel Ricciardo still raced for the Austrian team.
If Perez finds his groove early in the weekend, the chances are that he’ll be within a shot to challenge not only for a podium finish, but the win, too.
“This year (2022), already from practice, when I do a good lap, I know I’ve done a good lap,” Perez admitted to the official F1 website. “I’m enjoying my time a lot. I’ve never had the opportunity before to be with a top team capable of fighting for championships. I enjoy working with my group of people in the team. I’m really pleased.”
