Red Bull’s Sergio Perez won the Baku Grand prix race from a resurgent Sebastian Vettel and Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly in a two-lap sprint to the finish when the race was stopped after Verstappen crashed out with five laps to go.
His uncharacteristic error meant Verstappen retained the championship lead by four points from the Mercedes driver.
Vettel achieved the 122nd podium of his career today and it’s the first time he’s been in the top three since Turkey last season.
It’s also the first time the German has finished in second place since the Mexican Grand Prix of 2019.
Drama all the way through the Baku grand prix
Max Verstappen lost victory to a late puncture in a dramatic finish to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix that also saw Lewis Hamilton throw away a chance to reclaim the championship lead.
Hamilton was second on the grid at the restart and was ahead of Perez into Turn One but locked up his tyres and ran into the escape road, dropping to 15th at the flag.
For the first time this season, Charles Leclerc led away from pole, but he was passed for the lead by Lewis Hamilton with no need for DRS, so strong was the tow, on Lap 2. Verstappen then swept by the Ferrari man on Lap 7.
Today was a humbling experience. We worked so hard to put ourselves back in the top 10 today after a rocky week here in Baku. We gave it our all today and a small error caused the brakes to switch off. Sorry to the team, we’ll come back stronger for the next race 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/oHy75S07L3
His uncharacteristic error meant Verstappen retained the championship lead by four points from the Mercedes driver.
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