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Tag: Sergio Perez
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Max Verstappen wins again; Sergio Perez makes it 1-2 for Red Bull: Japan GP
Suzuka (Japan), 7 April 2024: Max Verstappen led a dominant Red Bull 1-2 at the Japanese Grand Prix, beating team-mate Sergio Pérez as Carlos Sainz finished third in a race that was red flagged for a crash involving Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon in the F1 World Championship Round 4 here on Sunday.
At the start of the race Verstappen got away well to take the lead ahead of Pérez and McLaren’s Lando Norris. However, further back there was contact. On the run to Turn 3, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, hemmed in and focused on Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll to his left, drifted to the right as he prepared to turn in. He failed to see Alex Albon coming on his right and the pair collided. Both went spinning into the barriers and while the drivers were unhurt the tyre barriers required substantial repairs. The red flags therefore came out.
After a near 30-minute halt, the cars left the pit lane for a standing start, with Verstappen and Pérez again on the front row ahead of Norris, Sainz and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. And when the lights went out for a second time, the Red Bull duo again took up residence at the head of the field.
With Suzuka basking in strong sunshine, tyre degradation was an issue and the Medium-tyre runners at the front of the pack soon began to struggle. On lap 12, Norris was the first of the leaders to pit, switching to Hard tyres and dropping to P10. He was followed a lap later by McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri and then by Alonso. Norris quickly put in the fastest lap of the race as his new Hard tyres began to come alive and when Pérez pitted, the strong undercut meant that Norris jumped ahead of both Sainz and Pérez.
Verstappen made his first stop on lap 17 and after switching to Mediums, he rejoined in P2, behind Charles Leclerc who was still on starting Mediums. The champion was soon chasing down the Ferrari driver, and at the start of lap 21 he breezed past to regain the lead.
Behind him, Pérez was chasing down Norris and on lap 22 he closed right up to the Briton through 130R before diving down the inside into the chicane to take P3 behind Leclerc who was now visibly struggling. Pérez began applying pressure and on lap 26 Leclerc went wide in Turn 9, allowing Pérez to sweep past. That was enough for Lecerc who headed for the pits to make his first stop, along with Norris who was making another early stop. Both switched to Hard tyres for the race to the flag.
Pérez made his final pit stop at the end of lap 33, switching to Hard tyres in a swift 2.1s halt. He rejoined in fifth place, just half a second behind Norris. There was no stopping the Mexican, however, and at the start of lap 35 he powered past the McLaren on the approach to Turn 1.
In the meantime, Verstappen made his final visit to the pit lane, and after taking on a set of Hard tyres he emerged in P2, behind Sainz who was beginning to struggle on his medium tyres. The Spaniard gave up the fight at the end of lap 36 and when he switched to a final set of Hard tyres, Verstappen retook the lead. Behind him, Pérez picked off the one-stopping Leclerc to move back to P2 a little over seven seconds behind his team-mate.
With 10 laps left the Red Bull drivers were in control, with Verstappen 11 seconds ahead of his team-mate, who was 9.6s ahead of Leclerc. Sainz was on the move, however. After passing Norris at the start of the lap he began to quickly close in on Leclerc and at the start of lap 46 he swept past his Ferrari team-mate under DRS on the run to Turn 1 to grab a podium finish.
And that sealed the order at the top. Verstappen managed his pace and at the end of lap 53 eased to his third win of the season and to a hat-trick of wins at Suzuka. Twelve seconds later Checo crossed the line to take his 38th podium finish and to seal another dominant 1-2 for the Team.
Behind the Bulls, Sainz held on to third ahead of Leclerc, while Norris finished fifth for McLaren ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. George Russell finished seventh, though the Mercedes driver was placed under investigation for appearing to force the eighth-placed McLaren of Oscar Piastri off the track on his way through. Lewis Hamilton was ninth in the second Mercedes and the final point was taken by RB’s home hero Yuki Tsunoda.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 53 1:54’23.566
2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 53 1:54’36.101 12.535
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 53 1:54’44.432 20.866
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 53 1:54’50.088 26.522
5 Lando Norris McLaren 53 1:54’53.266 29.700
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 53 1:55’07.838 44.272
7 George Russell Mercedes 53 1:55’09.517 45.951
8 Oscar Piastri McLaren 53 1:55’11.091 47.525
9 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 1:55’12.192 48.626
10 Yuki Tsunoda RB 52 1:54’25.168 1 lap /1.602
11 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 52 1:54’30.734 1 lap /7.168
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 52 1:54’34.799 1 lap /11.233
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas 52 1:54’41.485 1 lap /17.919
14 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 52 1:54’42.459 1 lap /18.893
15 Esteban Ocon Alpine 52 1:55’04.718 1 lap /41.152
16 Pierre Gasly Alpine 52 1:55’18.632 1 lap /55.066
17 Logan Sargeant Williams 52 1:55’36.331 1 lap /1’12.765
Zhou Guanyu Sauber 12 49’29.022 Gearbox
Daniel Ricciardo RB 0 – Accident
Alexander Albon Williams 0 – Accident -
Verstappen begins F1 campaign in style; Red Bull 1-2 at Bahrain
Bahrain, 2 March 2024: Max Verstappen started his 2024 F1 campaign in the same style as he signed off last year, by taking an emphatic victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix, the opening round of the Formula One World championship here on Saturday.
The three-time champion marched to a comfortable win more than 20 seconds ahead of Sergio Pérez who made it a second consecutive Sakhir 1-2 for Red Bull Racing, while Carlos Sainz took the final podium place, just three seconds behind Pérez and with team-mate Charles Leclerc fourth to give Ferrari hope of taking the fight to Red Bull over the coming weekends.
Verstappen’s opening win of 2024 was sealed at the start. The Red Bull driver reacted quickest to the lights and he seized the lead into Turn 1 ahead of Leclec who was forced to take an outside line into the corner as Mercedes’ George Russell held his starting third place.
Behind them, Sainz got away poorly and the Spaniard was mugged off the line by Pérez who grabbed P4 and began to chase down Russell.
The Mercedes driver was on a hunt of his own and on the third lap Russell powered past Leclerc to take P2. The Ferrari driver was struggling with his brakes and he was soon being pressured by Pérez. And on lap 7 the Mexican pounced. Leclerc locked up into Turn 10 and Pérez powered past on the short straight to the next corner.
At the front, Verstappen was building a solid comfort zone and by lap 10 he was almost eight seconds clear of Russell, while the Mercedes driver was just a second ahead of Pérez.
The threat from the Red Bull driver prompted Mercedes to pit Russell at the end of lap 11 and the Briton switched to Hard tyres. With Leclerc visibly struggling, Ferrari brought him for Hard tyres on the same lap. Covering Russell, Red Bull brought Pérez in at the end of lap 12 and after his switch to Hard tyres he emerged behind the Mercedes driver in P9.
It didn’t take long for the Red Bull man to make his greater pace tell. He quickly put pressure on the Mercedes and in Turn 4 Russell made a mistake, went wide and Pérez swept past to set up a Red Bull 1-2.
Verstappen made his first stop at the end of lap 17 and in a 2.9s halt he took on Hard tyres to re-emerge in the lead. But while the champion had everything under control, there were problems elsewhere. Leclerc, now in fifth place, was complaining of continuous front locking and Russell was reporting problems with an overheating power unit, an issue that on lap 18 allowed Sainz to power past to take P3.
The order at the top remained largely static during the second stint and Russell was the first of the leaders to make a second pit stop, at the end of lap 31. Over the following laps the bulk of the top 10 drivers cycled through the pit lane and then, at the end of lap 36, Pérez made his second stop, taking on a set of Soft tyres in a 2.7s halt that allowed him to emerge a little under two seconds ahead of Sainz who had pitted for a second set of Hard Tyres. Verstappen then made his final stop a lap later and after also taking on Soft tyres he emerged almost 16s clear of his team-mate.
The final major move of the race came on lap 46 with Russell locking up into Turn 10. His slide wide allowed Leclerc through to take fourth place. And there the order settled.
Verstappen, who had also sealed fastest lap earlier in the race, could now manage his pace and 11 laps later the World Champion crossed the line to take 22 seconds clear of his team-mate to take his first win of the new campaign.
The Red Bulls were followed by the Ferrari cars of Sainz and Leclerc, with Russell in fifth place at the flag. Sixth place went to McLaren’s Lando Norris, with Lewis Hamilton in seventh place in the second Mercedes. Oscar Piastri was eighth in the second Mercedes and the final two points places were taken by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 57 1:31’44.742
2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing RBPT 57 1:32’07.199 22.457
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 57 1:32’09.852 25.110
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 57 1:32’24.411 39.669
5 George Russell Mercedes 57 1:32’31.530 46.788
6 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 57 1:32’33.200 48.458
7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 57 1:32’35.066 50.324
8 Oscar Piastri McLaren 57 1:32’40.824 56.082
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 57 1:32’59.629 1’14.887
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 57 1:33’17.958 1’33.216
11 Zhou Guanyu Sauber 56 1:31’51.501 1 lap /6.759
12 Kevin Magnussen Haas 56 1:31’53.058 1 lap /8.316
13 Daniel Ricciardo RB 56 1:31’53.700 1 lap /8.958
14 Yuki Tsunoda RB 56 1:31’54.224 1 lap /9.482
15 Alexander Albon Williams 56 1:31’56.628 1 lap /11.886
16 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 56 1:32’02.374 1 lap /17.632
17 Esteban Ocon Alpine 56 1:32’16.192 1 lap /31.450
18 Pierre Gasly Alpine 56 1:32’17.159 1 lap /32.417
19 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 56 1:33’07.972 1 lap /1’23.230
20 Logan Sargeant Williams 55 1:32’05.537 2 laps /20.795 -
Max Verstappen wins Austrian GP ahead of Leclerc and Perez
Spielberg, 2 July 2023: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took an emphatic Austrian Grand Prix victory, carving out a large enough gap to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to pit for new tyres, take the point for fastest lap, and still take the flag five seconds clear of the Monegasque driver. Sergio Pérez delivered a superb recovery in the second Red Bull to claim the final podium position after starting in 15th place.
At the start, Verstappen got away well from pole position and took the lead ahead of Leclerc as the grid streamed towards Turn 1. Behind them, Sainz held third but fourth-place starter Lando Norris was beaten off the line by Lewis Hamilton.
Further back, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, starting 16th, tangled with one of the Alpines and damaged his front wing and with debris on the track the Safety Car was released and the race was neutralised.
The hazard was soon cleared and when running resumed Verstappen controlled the restart perfectly ahead of Lelcerc and Sainz, with Hamilton still fourth ahead of Norris and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.
In 13th place Pérez went on the attack and he was soon able to get past Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Mercedes’ George Russell and then Williams’ Alex Albon.
Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg then pulled over with technical issues and that led to the Virtual Safety Car being deployed. A host of drivers pitted for new tyres. However, Verstappen and Pérez stayed out and when the track went green again Verstappen led Leclerc by 17.7s, with Pérez ion P3. Sainz held fourth ahead of Hamilton, with Norris in sixth ahead of Alonso, Gasly, Tsunoda and Russell. The Red Bulls were now the only cars in the top 10 still on their starting tyres and they began to lose ground to those who had pitted and on lap 21 Sainz passed Pérez to take back third place.
Verstappen made his first regulation pit stop of the race on lap 25 and he moved to Hard compound tyres in a 2.3 second halt. That allowed Leclerc to sweep through into the lead and as Verstappen trundled out of the pit lane he was also passed by Sainz to put Ferrari 1-2 in the order. Verstappen soon closed up to the Ferrari and on lap 26, the Dutchman got a better exit out of Turn 3 and used DRS to outdrag the Spaniard on the run to Turn 4.
Pérez made his first tyre change on lap 26 and after taking on another set of Medium tyres he rejoined in tenth place. He was soon on the move, however, and he quickly made his way past Albon and Russell to rise to eighth place behind Pierre Gasly.
At the front, Verstappen was steadily reeling in Leclerc and on lap 35 he dived down the inside of the Ferrari in Turn 3 to reclaim the lead. He then began to carve out a gap and on lap 41 he was seven seconds clear.
Pérez, too, was advancing, and after overtaking Gasly in Turn 3, he chased down Alonso and breezed past the Aston Martin driver in the same corner to rise to fourth place as other drivers pitted.
On lap 46 Sainz made his second stop for new tyres and to serve a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits, and that allowed Pérez to sweep past into third place. Leclerc stopped two laps later and Pérez was boosted to P2, though the Mexican would need a final pit stop.
Verstappen made his second stop on lap 50 and after fitting a set of medium tyres and he emerged in the lead, six seconds ahead of his team-mate. Pérez then pitted on the following lap and after taking a set of Hard tyres he rejoined in fifth place, four seconds behind Norris and on fresher tyres. The gap was erased in just five laps and on lap 56 he powered past the McLaren on the run to Turn 4.
Sainz was now just a second ahead and Pérez went on the attack. And after an epic battle Pérez at last got DRS out of Turn 3 and roared past through Turn 4 to take P3.
At the front, Verstappen was in imperious form and in the closing stages he extended his lead over Leclerc to a mammoth 24 seconds. On lap 70, he pitted for Soft tyres and set a blistering final lap of 1:07.012 to take the win and the bonus point.
Leclerc crossed the line five seconds adrift and 12 seconds later Pérez took the flag to complete a stellar recovery and to seal a double podium for the team. Fourth place went to Sainz with Norris fifth ahead of Alonso. Hamilton and Russell took seventh and eighth places respectively for Mercedes, while Gasly was ninth for Alpine and the final point went to Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 71 –
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 71 5.155
3 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 71 17.188
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 71 21.377
5 Lando Norris McLaren 71 26.327
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 71 30.317
7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 39.196
8 George Russell Mercedes 71 48.403
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine 71 57.667
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 71 59.043
11 Alexander Albon Williams 71 1’09.767
12 Esteban Ocon Alpine 70 – 1 lap
13 Logan Sargeant Williams 70 – 1 lap
14 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 70 – 1 lap
15 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri 70 – 1 lap
16 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 70 – 1 lap
17 Oscar Piastri McLaren 70 – 1 lap
18 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 70 – 1 lap
19 Kevin Magnussen Haas 70 – 1 lap
Nico Hülkenberg Haas 12 – Retirement -
Max Verstappen wins Sprint; Perez takes 2nd to lock out front row for Red Bull
Spielberg, 1 July 2023: Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez handed Red Bull Racing a front-row lockout for the Sprint at the 2023 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix, with championship leader Verstappen beating his team-mate by almost half a second as Lando Norris took third place in the Shootout for McLaren.
After heavy rain in the morning, the conditions improved in the run-up to the Sprint Shootout, and with the track drying rapidly, Verstappen emerged on a set of Medium tyres. His first attempt was deleted for a track limits infringement and a second banker of 1:08.645 put him comfortably in the top 10.
He then claimed P1 on 1:07.214 before he was ousted by team-mate Pérez who posted a time of 1:07.085. Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg then split the Red Bull pair before Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton took P1 with a lap of 1:06.624.
Verstappen switched to soft tyres in the final minutes and jumped back to P1 with a lap of 1:06.223. He was pipped for top spot, however, by Carlos Sainz. The Ferrari driver recovered from early brake issues to take P1 with a lap of 1:06.187.
There was no place in the second segment, however, for Alfa Romeo’s p16 driver Zhou Guanyu, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in P17 or for 18th-placed Hamilton, who had a lap deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 10 and then caught traffic on his final run. Behind him, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Williams’ Logan Sargeant also exited the session.
Verstappen was first on track in SQ2 and he took P1 with a lap of 1:05.624. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso slotted into P2 with McLaren’s Lando Norris in third. After a cautious opening lap, Peerez then jumped to P2 on 1:05.836, a little under five hundredths of a second ahead of Sainz who had moved past Alonso.
With two minutes left, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon claimed top spot, two hundredths clear of Verstappen, but the Dutchman had pace in hand and he reclaimed P1 with a best lap of 1:05.371. Sainz moved up to second ahead of Ocon, while Charles Leclerc, in the other Ferrari, claimed fourth place with his final flying lap.
Eliminated at the end of SQ2 were Williams’ Alex Albon in P11 followed by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, the AlphaTauri cars of Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries and Mercedes’ George Russell who was sidelined by a hydraulic issue.
Verzstappen set the early SQ3 target at 1:04.613. Pérez gthen took P2, just under four tenths off that pace, but the Mexican was soon bumped to P3 by Norris who went just seven hundredths of a second faster.
But in the final runs there was no denying the Red Bull pair. Verstappen shaved almost two tenths of a second off his opener to claim top spot on the grid for the Sprint with a lap of 1:04.440, while Pérez leapfrogged Norris to seal a front row lockout for the Bulls with a final flyer of 1:04.933. With Norris third, Hülkenberg claimed a surprise fourth place ahead of Sainz and Leclerc, while Alonso took seventh ahead of Stroll, Ocon and Magnussen.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Sprint Shootout
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:04.440
2 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing 1:04.933 0.493
3 Lando Norris McLaren 1:05.010 0.570
4 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:05.084 0.644
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:05.136 0.696
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:05.245 0.805
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:05.258 0.818
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:05.347 0.907
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:05.366 0.926
10 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:05.912 1.472
11 Alex Albon Williams 1:06.152 1.712
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:06.360 1.920
13 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:06.369 1.929
14 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri 1:06.593 2.153
15 George Russell Mercedes
16 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:07.062 2.622
17 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:07.106 2.666
18 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:07.282 2.842
19 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:07.291 2.851
20 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:07.426 2.986 -
Max Verstappen wins from P9; Red Bull 1-2: Miami GP
Miami (USA), 7 May 2023: Max Verstappen powered his way through from ninth on the grid to win the Miami Grand Prix, passing team-mate Sergio Pérez in the closing stages of the 57-lap race as Red Bull Racing sealed its fourth one-two finish of the season. Fernando Alonso scored his fourth podium finish of the season so far with third place for Aston Martin.
When the lights went out, Pérez got away well and took the lead ahead of Alonso and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. Behind them, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen made a poor start and dropped back to seventh as Pierre Gasly moved to fourth ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Meanwhile, Verstappen, on Hard tyres, lost out at the start when Alfa Romeo’s Valterri Bottas made a good start and rose to eighth. However, the Dutchman quickly moved past Alpine’s Esteban to take back P9.
That became P8 on the next lap and then at the end of lap 3 the Dutchman closed up behind the duelling pair of Leclerc and Magnussen and when the Haas driver tried to fight back after Leclerc had overtaken him, Verstappen moved to inside and powered past both under DRS as they crossed the line.
The Red Bull driver closed up to Russell on lap nine and passed the Mercedes driver under braking into Turn 17. He chose the same place to muscle past Gasly on the next lap and then on lap 14 he passed the Spaniard under DRS into Turn 11. His next target was Alonso, and with pace to spare he eased past the Aston Martin driver, who offered little resistance, on the following lap.
The medium-tyre starters now began to pit and Pérez made his stop at the end of lap 20. The Mexican switched to Hard tyres in 2.2 seconds and rejoined in fourth place behind Alpine’s Esteban Ocon who had started on Hard tyres. Verstappen, still on his starting Hards, now led the race.
After Pérez reclaimed P2 from Ocon shortly before half distance the race became a tactical battle between Pérez, on fresh Hard tyres, and Verstappen on ageing Hards and with a stop for Mediums to come.
Pérez, 16 seconds behind his team-mate pushed to close the gap while also trying to protect his tyres for the inevitable fight at the end of the race, but as Verstappen continued to put in strong lap times despite the age of his tyres it soon became clear that the Mexican was fighting a losing battle.
After an exceptional final phase of his long opening, during which he set a cluster of fastest lap times, Verstappen made his sole stop of the race on lap 45 and took on Medium tyres. He emerged just 1.6 seconds behind his team-mate and on lap 47 he closed up to his team-mate and attacked into Turn 17.
Pérez defended well but on the run to Turn 1 at the start of the next lap he drew alongside and after a brief tussle got past to take the lead and ultimately the win.
And 10 laps later Max crossed the line five seconds ahead of Pérez to take a second consecutive Miami Grand Prix and his third win of the season. Alonso, capped a lonely race with a fourth podium finish of the year ahead of Russell and Sainz, who had five seconds added to his time at the flag for an earlier pit lane speeding offence.
Sixth place went to Hamilton, with Charles Leclerc seventh for Ferrari. Gasly was eighth for Alpine ahead of team-mate Ocon and the final point went to Magnussen.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 57 1:27’38.241
2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 57 1:27’43.625 5.384
3 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 57 1:28’04.546 26.305
4 George Russell Mercedes 57 1:28’11.470 33.229
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 57 1:28’20.752 42.511
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 57 1:28’29.490 51.249
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 57 1:28’31.229 52.988
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine 57 1:28’33.911 55.670
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine 57 1:28’36.364 58.123
10 Kevin Magnussen Haas 57 1:28’41.186 1’02.945
11 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 57 1:28’42.550 1’04.309
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 57 1:28’42.995 1’04.754
13 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 57 1:28’49.878 1’11.637
14 Alexander Albon Williams 57 1:28’51.102 1’12.861
15 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 57 1:28’53.191 1’14.950
16 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 57 1:28’56.681 1’18.440
17 Lando Norris McLaren 57 1:29’05.958 1’27.717
18 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri RBPT 57 1:29’07.190 1’28.949
19 Oscar Piastri McLaren 56 – 1 lap
20 Logan Sargeant Williams 56 – 1 lap -
Sergio Perez takes pole; Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crashes
Miami (USA), 6 May 2023: Sergio Pérez will start the 2023 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix from the front of the grid after the Red Bull driver’s first flying lap of Q3 proved good enough for pole position due to a crash for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on his final run of the top-10 shootout. The incident brought out the red flags and the session wasn’t resumed meaning no driver managed to get in a final lap. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso qualified in P2 ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, while championship leader Max Verstappen will start from ninth place on the grid.
In Q1, Vertstappen took P1 with his first lap of the session, thanks to a lap of 1:28.424. The champion was soon beaten by Pérez who set a time of 1:28.306. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc then split the Red Bull pair with a lap of 1:28.422, just 0.002 ahead of Verstappen and a little over a tenth off Pérez .
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, was heading back to the pit lane. The Mercedes driver came across the slow Haas of Kevin Magnussen and to avoid a collision, Hamilton had to swerve and clip the wall. He was soon back on track, however, with no serious damage detected.
Verstappen was on another hot lap, though, and he took over at the top with a lap of 1:27.363. Pérez also improved and moved back to second place, 0.350s behind his team-mate and more than a tenth ahead of Leclerc. In the final moments, Sainz moved 0.003s ahead of Pérez with Leclerc fourth ahead of Magnussen, while Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who had needed a good final lap, jumped from last to fifth with his last effort.
Ruled out at the end of the first segment were McLaren’s Lando Norris in P16, followed by AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tusnoda, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and local hero Logan Sargeant of Williams.
Verstappen and Pérez were first on track at the start of Q2 with both on new soft tyres. Verstappen was first across the line with a lap of 1:27.100. Pérez was right behind his team-mate on track and he followed Max on the timesheet too, slotting into P2, just over two tenths off the champion.
Once again, Sainz split the Red Bull drivers on the first runs, 0.038s behind Max and just under two tenths ahead of Pérez. Alonso was fourth, with Leclerc in fifth.
With a minute left on the clock Leclerc jumped up to P1 with a final lap of 1:26.964. Verstappen was, however, setting personal bests across his final lap and the Red Bull driver returned to P1 with a lap of 1:26.814. Alonso took third behind Leclerc, with Sainz in fourth. Pérez eased through to the top-10 shootout in fifth place.
There was no place in the final segment of Qualifying for Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes driver was ruled out in P13. Also out were Williams’ Alex Albon in P11 followed by Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg , with Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu behind Hamilton and AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries in P15.
At the start of the top-10 shootout Verstappen was forced to abandon his first flying lap after making a mistake in Turn 5. That left the door open for Pérez and the Mexican took provisional pole with a lap of 1:26.841.
In the final runs, Verstappen led his team-mate out of the garage but neither would get a chance at a final flyer. Ahead of the Red Bulls, Leclerc began his final flyer, but the Monegasque driver lost control in Turn 6 and spun backwards across the run-off and into the barriers. With just 1m36s left on the clock and no time for drivers to complete a warm-up lap if the clock was restarted, Race Control ended the session and Pérez took the third pole position of his career and his second of 2023.
Behind the Mexican, Alonso claimed his second front row start of the year with second place and Sainz took third. Magnussen profited from the misfortunes around him to take a surprise fourth place ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Mercedes’ George Russell and Leclerc. Max, meanwhile, will launch a fight back towards the front from ninth place on the grid behind the Alpine of Esteban Ocon.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 1:26.841
2 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:27.202 0.361
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:27.349 0.508
4 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:27.767 0.926
5 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:27.786 0.945
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:27.804 0.963
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.861 1.020
8 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:27.935 1.094
9 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing
10 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo
11 Alex Albon Williams 1:27.795 0.954
12 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:27.903 1.062
13 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:27.975 1.134
14 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:28.091 1.250
15 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri 1:28.395 1.554
16 Lando Norris McLaren 1:28.394 1.553
17 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:28.429 1.588
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:28.476 1.635
19 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:28.484 1.643
20 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:28.577 1.736 -
Sergio Perez wins Azerbaijan Sprint ahead of Verstappen
Baku, 29 April 2023: Sergio Pérez took the first Sprint win of his career with a controlled drive to victory in Baku that saw him pass Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc midway through the race in the Sprint race ahead of the FIA Formula 1 Championship here on Sunday .
Third place in the 17-lap race went to Max Verstappen. The championship leader dropped to fourth at the start after being hit by George Russell but later passed the Mercedes drive to take the P3 medal.
When the lights went out at the start, Leclerc got away well from the front of the grid to take the lead. Pérez matched the Ferrari drive off the line and tucked in behind, but Verstappen was slow to start and he was quickly put under pressure by Russell. Verstappen had the upper hand in Turn 1 but Russell was more aggressive at the next corner. He locked up on cold tyres, however, and collided with the Red Bull, gouging a hole in the sidepod of Versatppen’s RB19. The Dutchman had to give way to the Briton as they headed onto the straight towards Turn 3.
Moments later the Virtual Safety Car was deployed when AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda hit the wall in Turn 14 and with debris on the track the physical Safety Car was released at the end of lap three.
The SC left the track at the end of lap five. Leclerc managed the restart well ahead of Pérez but it was Verstappen who reacted best to Leclerc’s acceleration and he ambushed Russell just after they crossed the start-finish line. The Dutchman dived down the inside of the Mercedes and powered past the Mercedes into Turn 1.
Behind them, Carlos Sainz also reacted well and he muscled past Lewis Hamilton under braking into Turn 1 to take P5. Hamilton, forced wide, also surrendered position to the opportunistic Fernando Alonso who tucked in behind Sainz and stole P6.
On lap 8, with DRS back in play after the resumption, Pérez closed up to Leclerc and as they roared along the long straight toward Turn 1 he swept past the Ferrari to take the lead.
Two laps later, Leclerc lost the DRS boost of being within a second of Pérez and Verstappen tried to close in. The Ferrari driver responded, though, and he briefly pushed his way back into DRS of the race leader as Verstappen drifted out of range of Leclerc.
Pérez was now in firm control and on lap 14 he stretched his lead to 1.3 seconds and from there sailed serenely on to take a superbly managed first Sprint win.
Verstappen managed to close up to within a second of Leclerc on the penultimate lap but the Ferrari driver was wily enough to harvest energy in the right places and was able to keep restrict the Dutchman to third at the flag.
Behind the top three, Russell took fourth place ahead of Sainz and Alonso and Hamilton and the final point on offer went to Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Sprint
1 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 17 –
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 17 4.463
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 17 5.065
4 George Russell Mercedes 17 8.532
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 17 10.388
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 17 11.613
7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 17 16.503
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 17 18.417
9 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 17 21.757
10 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 17 22.851
11 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 17 27.990
12 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 17 34.602
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 17 36.918
14 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 17 41.626
27 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 17 48.587
16 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 17 49.917
17 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 17 51.104
18 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 17 1’00.621
Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 2 – Retirement
Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 0 – Withdrawn -
Alonso powers Aston Martin to a podium; Verstappen leads Red Bull 1-2
Max Verstappen dominated the opening round of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship, cruising to victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix as Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez sealed a 1-2 finish for Red Bull and Fernando Alonso claimed his first podium as an Aston Martin driver. There was disappointment for Ferrari, though, as Charles Leclerc retired from the race with an engine issue.
At the start of the race, Verstappen got away well and took the lead. Alongside him on the front row, team-mate Pérez bogged down and the Mexican driver was swamped from row two by Ferrari’s Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Leclerc got past into Turn 1 but Pérez resisted the assault of Sainz and settled into third place ahead of the Spanish driver and the fifth-placed Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.
Behind the top five, Mercedes’ George Russell was sixth but the Aston Martin pair of Alonso and Lance Stroll clashed in Turn 4. Alonso managed to hold on to seventh but Stroll dropped back to ninth behind Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas after getting a late-braking move wrong.
At the front, Verstappen quickly began to pull away from the field and by the start of lap 10 the world champion was a full seven seconds clear of Leclerc.
Leclerc was the first of the leaders to pit, with the Ferrari driver taking on hard compound tyres on lap 14. Sainz followed his team-mate immediately and they rejoined the race in P5 and P6 respectively.
Versatppen was called in a lap later and when he stopped for a set of soft tyres he ceded the lead to Pérez. The Mexican then made his first stop of the race on lap 17. Like his team-mate, the Mexican bolted on another set of soft tyres and as Verstappen retook the lead, Pérez slotted into third place behind Leclerc.
Pérez then began to hunt down the Ferrari ahead, and on lap 25 he closed within DRS range. He quickly went on the attack and powered past the Monegasque driver under braking into Turn 1 to take P2.
At the front, Verstappen was in cruise control and after moving to hard tyres in the final round of pit stops he emerged over 11 seconds ahead of his team-mate, who after his final stop, had pulled out his own 11-second gap to Leclerc.
The major battle was now between Alonso and Hamilton and on lap 39 the Spaniard made a superb move past the seven-time champion into Turn 10 to steal fifth place. The Aston Martin driver then began to chase down Sainz.
What looked like a stable podium order then changed on lap 40 when Leclerc suffered an engine issue. The Ferrari driver pulled over at the side of the track and was forced to retire, meaning that, under the Virtual Safety Car, Sainz inherited third place, just 2.5s clear of Alonso. On lap 43 that gap shrunk to under a second and three laps later, after a bruising sequence of corners, he powered past his compatriot in Turn 11.
At the front, the Red Bull pair were in complete control, exemplified by Pérez’s race engineer Hugh Bird telling his driver “there’s no pressure from behind, just stroke it home”.
And after 57 laps the defending champions did just that. Verstappen took the flag comfortably ahead of his team-mate to seal the first Bahrain GP win of his career and 12 seconds later Pérez sealed Red Bull first one-two finish at the Bahrain International circuit and his 27th career podium finish. Verstappen’s dominance was driven home by the 38.6-second advantage he had over third-placed Alonso who gave Aston Martin its first podium place since the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix when Sebastian Vettel finished second.
Behind the top three, Sainz held onto fourth place ahead of Hamilton, while Stroll climbed back to a creditable sixth place to complete a good day for his team. Russell finished seventh in the second Mercedes ahead of Bottas, while Alpine’s Pierre Gasly put in a super drive from the back of the grid to take two points for ninth place. The final point on offer went to Williams’ Alex Albon.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 57 1:33’56.736
2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 57 1:34’08.723 11.987
3 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 57 1:34’35.373 38.637
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 57 1:34’44.788 48.052
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 57 1:34’47.713 50.977
6 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 57 1:34’51.238 54.502
7 George Russell Mercedes 57 1:34’52.609 55.873
8 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 57 1:35’09.383 1’12.647
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine 57 1:35’10.489 1’13.753
10 Alexander Albon Williams 57 1:35’26.510 1’29.774
11 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 57 1:35’27.606 1’30.870
12 Logan Sargeant Williams 56 1:33’57.872 1 lap /1.136
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas 56 1:34’13.493 1 lap /16.757
14 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri 56 1:34’19.259 1 lap /22.523
15 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 56 1:34’35.647 1 lap /38.911
16 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 56 1:34’36.385 1 lap /39.649
17 Lando Norris McLaren 55 1:34’03.372 2 laps /6.636
Esteban Ocon Alpine 41 1:10’19.566 Retirement
Charles Leclerc Ferrari 39 1:04’46.118 Power Unit
Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 13 22’22.585 Retirement -
Sergio Perez quickest in FP1: F1 Season Opener
Bahrain, 3 March 2023: Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez went quickest in first practice for the opening race of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship, the Bahrain Grand Prix, beating Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso by almost half a second. Defending champion Max Verstappen finished in third place in the other Red Bull car.
Pérez staked his claim to P1 early in the session, posting a time of 1:35.069 before Alonso bypassed that as Verstappen joined the fray with a third-place time almost four tenths shy of his team-mate’s.
Alonso held sway for the first 10 minutes of running before Pérez once again moved ahead with a lap of 1:34.343.
But as the session headed for its half way point, the Mexican driver bolted on a set of soft tyres and posted a lap of 1:32.758 to put some distance between himself and his rivals. Verstappen followed soon after, but the defending champion was only to get to a time just over six tenths off the pace set by Pérez.
McLaren’s Lando Norris then moved to third place on soft tyres, though the Briton was 1.4s down on Pérez’s benchmark, and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc made his way to fourth place.
Both were demoted, though, when Alonso moved to soft tyres and he set a time of 1:33.196 to take P3 0.438s off Pérez.
With Leclerc fifth, sixth place went to Lance Stroll who was at the wheel of the Aston Martin AMR23 for the first time after suffering hand injuries in a pre-season bicycle accident. The Canadian worked his way into the session slowly but eventually made his way to 1:34.298 a tenth of a second ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.
Zhou Guanyu was eighth quickest for Alfa Romeo with team-mate Valtteri Bottas just behind.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top 10 order with team-mate George Russell in P11 though either attempted a soft tyre run in the session
New-season rookie Oscar Piastri was 12th for McLaren ahead of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, while F1 returnee Nico Hülkenberg was 14th for Haas. Esteban Ocon took 15th place of Alpine ahead of full-season rookie Nyck de Vries of AlphaTauri and Pierre Gasly finished in P17 ahead of new Williams recruit Logan Sargeant, who beat team-mate Alex Albon. The timesheet was propped up by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:32.758 21 210.043
2 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:33.196 0.438 22 209.056
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:33.375 0.617 21 208.655
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:34.165 1.407 21 206.904
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:34.257 1.499 17 206.702
6 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:34.298 1.540 17 206.613
7 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:34.402 1.644 20 206.385
8 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:34.575 1.817 18 206.007
9 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:34.689 1.931 20 205.759
10 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:34.917 2.159 13 205.265
11 George Russell Mercedes 1:34.966 2.208 20 205.159
12 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:34.997 2.239 24 205.092
13 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1:35.015 2.257 20 205.053
14 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:35.043 2.285 22 204.993
15 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:35.105 2.347 20 204.859
16 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1:35.402 2.644 25 204.222
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:35.455 2.697 22 204.108
18 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1:35.749 2.991 24 203.482
19 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:36.018 3.260 15 202.911
20 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:36.072 3.314 21 202.797 -
Perez quickest on Day 3: F1 testing comes to a close
Sakhir (Bahrain), 25 Feb 2023: Sergio Pérez set the fastest time of the three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain with the Mexican racer beating Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton by more than three tenths of a second as Valtteri Bottas took third spot for Alfa Romeo ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
As his defending champion team-mate Max Verstappen had done on the opening day of testing, Pérez spent the full day at the wheel of the RB19 and in hot temperatures the Red Bull driver, like many others, spent the morning session focusing on longer runs.
As the heat eased through the afternoon, however, drivers began to bolt on softer compound tyres as they explored the performance potential of their new cars with just over a week to go until the opening race of the season.
Hamilton took top spot in the afternoon with a lap of 1:30.781, with the seven-time champion using the softer C5 compound tyres to set a time that pushed him ahead of the morning’s quickest driver Charles Leclerc. Leclerc’s team-mate Carlos Sainz got to within two hundredths of his team-mate to sit third.
After spending the day on the C3 compound, Pérez then went a step softer and on the C4 tyres powered to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:30.616 on the slower C4 tyres. Hamilton improved but he still sat 0.048s behind the Red Bull.
And then, in the final hour, Pérez put clear water between himself and his rivals with a lap of 1:30.305 on C4s to boost his lead to 0.359s. That looked like being the final order but late in the session Bottas put in a good C5 lap of 1:30.82 to steal third from Leclerc, with Sainz in fifth.
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda finished a creditable sixth with a C4 time of 1:31.261, two tenths off Sainz and 0.956s off the pace set by Pérez. Tsunoda’s lap pushed Haas’ Kevin Magnussen out to seventh place ahead of Mercedes’ morning runner George Russell.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Felipe Drugovich took ninth and tenth places respectively as the Silverstone team enjoyed a positive end to their test phase. Lando Norris finished 11th for McLaren, though the Briton completed just 35 laps across the day, with his best time being set on C3 tyres.
Pierre Gasly was 13th for Alpine ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg finished 15th ahead of McLaren’s morning runner Oscar Piastri and Nyck de Vries propped up the timesheet.
2023 Formula 1 Pre-season Test – Bahrain, Day 3
1 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Red Bull 133 1:30.305
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 65 1:30.664 0.359
3 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari 131 1:30.827 0.522
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari Ferrari 67 1:31.024 0.719
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari Ferrari 76 1:31.036 0.731
6 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri Red Bull 79 1:31.261 0.956
7 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 95 1:31.381 1.076
8 George Russell Mercedes Mercedes 83 1:31.442 1.137
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Mercedes 80 1:31.450 1.145
10 Felipe Drugovich Aston Martin Mercedes 77 1:32.075 1.770
11 Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 37 1:32.160 1.855
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine Renault 56 1:32.762 2.457
13 Alex Albon Williams Mercedes 136 1:32.793 2.488
14 Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 76 1:33.257 2.952
15 Nico Hulkenberg Haas Ferrari 77 1:33.329 3.024
16 Oscar Piastri McLaren Mercedes 44 1:33.655 3.350
17 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri Red Bull 87 1:38.244 7.939
