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Tag: Sergio Perez
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Max Verstappen wins Spanish GP to take championship lead
Barcelona, 22 May 2022: Max Verstappen claimed a hard fought Spanish Grand Prix win at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, coming back from an early spin and faulty DRS to take a victory that hands him control of the 2022 FIA Formula One Drivers’ World Championship standings as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc exited the race from a comfortable lead due to the power unit issue. Sergio Pérez took second place to Red Bull Racing’s second 1-2 finish of the season and the final podium place went to Mercedes’ George Russell
When the lights went out at the start, Leclerc and Verstappen both got away well. The Red Bull driver tried to draw alongside the Ferrari on the long drag to Turn 1, but Leclerc defended well and held the lead as they exited the corner.
Behind them, Carlos Sainz made a poor start and he was passed first by Mercedes’ George Russell and then by Pérez. Further back, though, Kevin Magnussen attempted to pass Lewis Hamilton but the Dane tagged the Briton’s Mercedes and the Haas bounced off track into the gravel traps. He was able to continue at the back of the field but Hamilton suffered a puncture and was forced back to the pits.
As the opening stint began to unfold, Leclerc began to carve out a slim gap to Verstappen and by lap five he was 1.2 seconds clear of the Dutchman, with Russell two seconds adrift of the Red Bull driver and Pérez a further second back. Sainz held fifth ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, with Mick Schumacher in seventh place in the second Haas. However, the German was soon passed by Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and slipped to eighth.
On lap seven, though, Sainz made a mistake into Turn 4 and spun into the gravel trap. He managed to make his way back on track but dropped to 11th place. And then, on lap nine, the same fate befell Verstappen. The world champion turned in but lost grip as he grappled with a strong tailwind and he slid off into the gravel, losing position to Russell and Pérez.
After Pérez had twice attempted to get past Russell but failed, the Mexican ceded third place to Verstappen on lap 11 and the Dutchman quickly began to pile pressure on the Briton.
At the end of lap 13, Russell and Verstappen headed towards the pit lane and both fitted medium tyres. Bottas pitted at the end of the next tour and that promoted Russell and Verstappen back to third and fourth respectively.
Verstappen’s pursuit of the Mercedes was hampered, however, by an intermittently failing DRS and over the course of the following laps his attempts to close up to the Mercedes were frequently dashed by the rear wing staying resolutely closed.
Pérez then pitted at the end of lap 17 and after taking medium tyres he rejoined in fourth place ahead of Bottas, Ocon, Sainz, Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, who had yet to pit, the McLaren of Lando Norris and AlphaTauri Yuki Tsunoda.
Leclerc pitted for medium tyres at the end of lap 21 and he rejoined with a six-second cushion to Russell and Verstappen. At the start of the next lap Pérez was fourth, four seconds adrift of his team-mate with Bottas in fifth place, 10.6s behind the second Red Bull. Ocon held sixth ahead of Sainz, with Norris eighth ahead of Tsundoa and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso who had climbed to 10th after starting from the back of the grid.
On lap 24, Verstappen, with DRS working, attacked Russell again and this time he got past the Mercedes on the inside into Turn 1. But Russell hung on around the outside and managed to emerge in P2 again. Verstappen tried to attack again on the following lap but much his very vocal frustration his DRS once again failed to open.
The complexion of the race changed completely on lap 27 when Leclerc suddenly slowed dramatically and after complaining of a sudden loss of power, he immediately headed to the pits lane and was forced to retire.
The battle between Verstappen and Russell was now for the lead. but then Verstappen opted to for a set of used soft tyres. He resumed in fourth place behind Bottas, leaving Pérez to chase down Russell.
And on lap 31 the Mexican made his move. Aided by DRS on the pit straight, he feinted right, forcing Russell to defend, and then effortlessly powered around the outside of the Mercedes to take the lead.
The Mexican driver quickly moved into a 2.5s lead over Russell, while Verstappen passed Bottas on lap 32 to take P3. The Dutchman now sat 12.5s behind the lead Mercedes.
Lapping almost two seconds faster than the leaders, Verstappen rapidly closed in and on lap 36 Mercedes backed out of the fight by pitting Russell for more medium tyres. Pérez then made his second stop for medium tyres at the end of lap 37 and Verstappen jumped into the lead.
Verstappen made his final stop at the end of lap 44, taking on medium tyres. He rejoined in P2 behind Pérez who once again led. The Dutchman quickly began to reel in his team-mate and on lap 49, Pérez moved across in Turn 4 to let the world champion retake a lead he held until the chequered flag.
Pérez crossed the line 13 seconds behind the new championship leader to make sure of the Red Bull 1-2 and the Mexican also nabbed the point for fastest lap thanks to a late-race switch to soft tyres.
Mercedes’ final laps were nervous, however. A suspected water leak on the power units of both its cars meant they had to coast to the line. Russell took his second podium finish of the season in third, while Hamilton, who had earlier passed Sainz for fourth, was forced to give the place back to the Ferrari driver on the final lap. Hamilton was left with fifth place ahead of Bottas, Ocon, Norris, Alonso and the final point on offer went to Tsunoda.
Verstappen now leads the Drivers’ Championship standings with 110 points, six ahead of Leclerc. Pérez now has 85 points, 11 clear of Russell. The Team has also taken the lead in the Constructors’ Championship and now has 195 points to Ferrari’s 169, with Mercedes third on 120.
2022 FIA Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 66 1:37’20.475
2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 66 1:37’33.547 13.072
3 George Russell Mercedes 66 1:37’53.402 32.927
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 66 1:38’05.683 45.208
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 66 1:38’15.009 54.534
6 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 66 1:38’20.451 59.976
7 Esteban Ocon Alpine 66 1:38’35.872 1’15.397
8 Lando Norris McLaren 66 1:38’43.710 1’23.235
9 Fernando Alonso Alpine 65 1:37’27.322 1 lap /6.847
10 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 65 1:37’31.120 1 lap /10.645
11 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 65 1:37’47.098 1 lap /26.623
12 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 65 1:38’00.152 1 lap /39.677
13 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 65 1:38’01.422 1 lap /40.947
14 Mick Schumacher Haas 65 1:38’03.918 1 lap /43.443
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 65 1:38’22.806 1 lap /1’02.331
16 Nicholas Latifi Williams 64 1:37’24.931 2 laps /4.456
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas 64 1:37’33.131 2 laps /12.656
18 Alexander Albon Williams 64 1:38’15.803 2 laps /55.328
Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 28 42’55.571 Retirement
Charles Leclerc Ferrari 27 40’21.658 Retirement -
Verstappen leads Red Bull 1-2 in Emilia Romagna GP after misery for Leclerc
Red Bull ended up 1-2 with Max Verstappen winning F1 Emilia Romagna GP from Sergio Perez as McLaren’s Lando Norris rounded the podium in third.
The pre-race rain made it an intermediate start for all in F1 Emilia Romagna GP as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen got a good start to lead from teammate Sergio Perez after an average getaway for both the Ferrari cars with McLaren’s Lando Norris moving to third.
Charles Leclerc dropped to fourth as teammate Carlos Sainz spun out after being tagged by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo in Turn 3-4 area. The Spaniard suffered another retirement as the Australian pitted to drop back in the order with the safety car deployed.
Replays showed Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas also hitting the back of Ricciardo in that moment, while separately Haas’ Mick Schumacher spun on a wet patch when his rear wing touched the sidepod of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso which shed itself later on.
The re-start worked well for Verstappen as he led Perez, Norris and Leclerc in the Top 4, with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen in fifth from Mercedes’ George Russell who climbed up five places to be sixth ahead of Bottas, Alonso in the Top 10.
Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel was ninth from AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, as up ahead Leclerc challenged Norris for third to take it. Behind him, Magnussen was being pressured on by Russell and Bottas where the Brit tried to get by the Dane.
He did it once but lost out. He hustled again and got through him for fifth as Bottas followed suit on the next lap to take sixth with Magnussen dropping to seventh. Vettel slowly started to catch him with Tsunoda a bit far off in ninth.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll held off Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in the battle for 10th as Alonso was forced to retire after part of his sidepod came lose. The drivers started to slip and slide more on a drying track in the wait of rain to pit.
With no rain in the horizon, drivers started to pit after Ricciardo started the chain. There was some chaos with slow stops for Hamilton and Bottas. The Brit had to avoid Ocon who was released on his way with the stewards putting it under investigation.
Ocon was handed a 5s time penalty for unsafe release, as Verstappen led the way in the front. Teammate Perez had Leclerc all on his back in the fight for second with Norris remaining in third from Russell and Bottas who retained sixth despite the slow stop.
Vettel gained on Magnussen to be seventh with Tsunoda ninth from Stroll in the Top 10. Ocon was 11th from Williams’ Alexander Albon, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Hamilton, who dropped to 14th after the slow stop from his team.
The race steadied itself as drivers had to get through the race on the same set of tyres. The biggest moment for the camera crew was Verstappen lapping Hamilton towards the end of the race when the Brit was trying to get through Gasly.
While things were stable ahead, Tsunoda passed Magnussen for eighth as outside the Top 10, Albon continued to trouble Gasly and Hamilton in the fight for 12th. In a twist, Ferrari called in Leclerc for soft tyres with Red Bull doing the same with Perez and Verstappen.
Leclerc came out behind Norris but he got back the place and hurried Perez. In doing so, the Monegasque spun but managed to continue on. He was forced to pit for the front wing and dropped to ninth but regained eighth from Magnussen.
At the front, Norris gained a place to third while Russell in fourth had Bottas on his tail in the closing stages. Tsunoda was long way off in sixth from Vettel who had a charging Leclerc on his tail. He eventually passed him in his pursuit of Tsunoda.
His title challenger Verstappen dominated to win F1 Emilia Romagna GP in a Red Bull 1-2 with Perez second from Norris in the Top 3. The Dutchman also scored the fastest lap, as Russell held off Bottas to finish fourth by 0.675s.
Leclerc ended up sixth from Tsunoda, Vettel, Magnussen and Stroll in the Top 10 where Aston Martin scored double points to open their account in 2022. Ocon was 11th despite his penalty as Albon eventually held off Gasly and Hamilton for 12th.
Zhou was 15th from Williams’ Nicholas Latifi with Schumacher 17th and Ricciardo 18th. Everyone from Stroll until the Australian ended up a lap down. DNF: Alonso, Sainz.
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Verstappen finishes ahead of Hamilton, extends lead
Mexico City, 7 Nov 2021: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen extended his 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship lead over Lewis Hamilton to 19 points with a controlled drive to victory ahead of the Mercedes driver at the Mexico City Grand Prix as Sergio Pérez claimed third place to become the first Mexican driver to stand on the podium at his home race.
When the lights went out Verstappen got a good start from third place on the grid and on the long run to Turn 1 he got a powerful tow from Hamilton. He drew alongside the Briton and as they went into the first corner he braked later and hung on around that outside to take the lead. H rise to the front was aided by Valtteri Bottas spinning out midway through the corner after the Finnish polesitter was tagged by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo. That allowed Pérez to take third place, through the Mexican had to take evasive action when Bottas spun to his right.
Further back AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Haas’ Mick Schumacher were involved in a collision and with the cars stranded at the side of the track the safety car was deployed.
When racing resumed four laps later, Verstappen comfortably held his advantage as the safety car left the track and he quickly settled into his first stint.
And by lap 19 the Dutch driver had pulled out an almost seven-second gap to Hamilton. Pérez stuck close to the Mercedes driver, maintaining a two-second deficit as the race edged into the pit window for a one-stop race.
At the end of a long first stint, Hamilton was the first to blink and he headed towards the pity lane at the end of lap 29. He took on hard tyres in a 2.4s stop and rejoined in P5 behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
The Monegasque driver made his visit to the pit lane on the next lap and then Gasly pitted from third place. That freed Hamilton and he began setting purple laps. On lap 32 he was 17 seconds behind second-placed Pérez.
Verstappen then made his sole pit stop at the end of 33, taking on hard tyres. That promoted Pérez into the lead of his home grand prix and when Verstappen rejoined in second place he was 7.5s clear of Hamilton in third.
Pérez extended his stint to end of lap 40 and after switching to hard tyres he rejoined in third place, 9.9s behind Hamilton, but with tyres that were 11 laps newer. The Mexican quickly began to reduce the deficit and by lap 50 he was six seconds adrift of the Briton.
At the front, Verstappen was racing comfortably towards the flag and on lap 53 he set the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1:18.999. That opened the gap to Hamilton to 13 seconds and the Dutchman then began to manage his pace as he marched to his 19th career win and his third in Mexico City overall.
Behind him, Pérez was still clawing back the gap to Hamilton and by lap 56 the Mexican was 2.8s behind the Mercedes driver. Over the course of the next 10 laps he gradually reeled in the Mercedes but despite a speculative look to the outside of the Mercedes in Turn 4 on the final lap, he couldn’t find a way past and Hamilton took second place ahead of the Red Bull driver who became the first Mexican to score a podium finish at his home race.
Behind Pérez, fourth place went to AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and the Frenchman’s 12 points put the Italian squad level with Alpine on 106 points in the battle for fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship.
Ferrari took fifth and sixth places with Leclerc ahead of Sainz, while Sebastian Vettel took seventh place fort Aston Martin. Kimi Räikkonen scored four valuable points for Alfa Romeo with eighth place, ninth place went to Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and the final point on offer went to McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Verstappen’s win means he now has a 19-point lead over Hamilton with four races remaining. The double podium finish means Red Bull Racing are now just a single point behind Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 71 1:38’39.086
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 1:38’55.641 16.555
3 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 71 1:38’56.838 17.752
4 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 71 1:39’42.931 1’03.845
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 71 1:40’00.123 1’21.037
6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 70 1:38’41.516 1 lap /2.430
7 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 1:38’49.144 1 lap /10.058
8 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 70 1:38’54.245 1 lap /15.159
9 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 70 1:39’02.775 1 lap /23.689
10 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 70 1:39’05.312 1 lap /26.226
11 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 70 1:39’40.085 1 lap /1’00.999
12 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 70 1:39’40.975 1 lap /1’01.889
13 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 70 1:39’52.459 1 lap /1’13.373
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 69 1:38’47.037 2 laps /7.951
15 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 69 1:39’12.019 2 laps /32.933
16 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 69 1:39’17.888 2 laps /38.802
17 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 69 1:39’32.376 2 laps /53.290
18 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 68 1:39’26.403 3 laps /47.317
Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 0 Collision
Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 0 Collision -
Home hero Sergio Perez fastest in FP2
Mexico City, 6 Nov 2021: Home hero Sergio Pérez set the fastest lap of final practice for the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship Mexico City Grand, beating Red Bull Racing team-mate Max Verstappen by two tenths of a second as Mercedes Lewis Hamilton finished third, six tenths of a second off the Mexican driver.
The session got underway with the field biding their time in the pit lane. AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda broke the silence after five minutes and the Japanese driver soon posted the opening time of the day at 1:20.922 on soft tyres. Over the next nine laps he worked his way down to 1:19.744 before being pushed out of P1 by Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen who in turn was edged out McLaren’s Lando Norris who established new benchmark of 1:19.244 as the session passed the 20-minute mark.
It was then that Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton made his entrance and the Mercedes driver swiftly rose to the top of the order with a lap of 1:18.770. His stay was brief. However, as team-mate Valtteri Bottas soon crossed the line in 1:18.661 to take P1.
Just before the half hour mark, Sergio Pérez emerged to a huge roar from his home fans and the Red Bull driver rewarded them with the fastest time of the session, a 1:18.625 set on soft tyres.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc jumped to P1 with a lap of 1:18.213 but Pérez restored Red Bull pre-eminence as he improved to 1:17934.
Verstappen then made his late entrance and the championship leader powered past his team-mate’s best effort, knocking almost four tenths of a second off Pérez’s time to take top spot with a lap of 1:17.537. He then went for another flying lap and lowered the marker to 1:17.217 as the field retired to the pit lane to prepare for their qualifying simulations.
Hamilton and Bottas were among the first back on track and though Bottas failed to improve on his first run, Hamilton jumped to third place with a lap of 1:17.903.
Pérez then returned to the fray and though the Mexican logged personal best times in all three sector he couldn’t eclipse his team-mate’s earlier time and settled into P2 with a lap of 1:17.272, just 0.055s off Verstappen.
The Mexican wasn’t done, however, and after returning to the pit lane he went for a second run. And after setting purple times in the final two sectors he took top spot with a lap of 1:17.024.
Verstappen emerged for his qualifying sim but the Dutch driver couldn’t find an improvement and complained to his pit wall that his lap was “weird, no grip at all”.
It left Pérez top, almost two tenths ahead of his team-mate.
Hamilton improved to 1:17.675 to leapfrog Bottas and take P3 but the Briton was still over six tenths of a second off the pace of Pérez.
With Bottas fourth, fifth place in the session went to Sainz, with Tsunoda sixth ahead of McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly. Ninth place went to Leclerc and Norris ended the session in tenth place.
Elsewhere there was bad news for Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, with his team confirming that the Frenchman would be taking a new power unit and he will thus drop to the back of the grid for tomorrow’s race.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix – Free Practice 3
1 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:17.024 15 201.163
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:17.217 0.193 12 200.660
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:17.675 0.651 14 199.477
4 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:17.708 0.684 17 199.392
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:18.029 1.005 20 198.572
6 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:18.037 1.013 25 198.551
7 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:18.121 1.097 15 198.338
8 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:18.202 1.178 18 198.133
9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:18.213 1.189 20 198.105
10 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:18.312 1.288 16 197.854
11 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:18.352 1.328 20 197.753
12 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:18.531 1.507 22 197.302
13 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:18.556 1.532 19 197.240
14 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:18.614 1.590 17 197.094
15 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:18.847 1.823 15 196.512
16 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:18.999 1.975 17 196.134
17 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:19.211 2.187 19 195.609
18 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:19.238 2.214 14 195.542
19 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:19.313 2.289 12 195.357
20 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:20.479 3.455 15 192.527 -
Max Verstappen takes pole ahead of Norris and Perez
Spielberg, 3 July 2021: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen took his second Red Bull Ring pole position in a week with a dominant performance in qualifying for Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix. However, despite topping every segment of the hour–long session he was push closer in the final top 10 shootout by Lando Norris who claimed the first front-row start of his F1 career just four hundredths of a second behind the championship leader. Sergio Pérez took third place for Red Bull as Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth.
In Q1 Verstappen went out earlier than usual and with his first flying lap he jumped to the top of the order with an opening flying lap of 1:04.249. Hamilton wasn’t far behind the Dutchman on track and when he crossed the line he slotted into second place with a lap of 1:04.506, six hundredths of a second ahead of team-mate Bottas. Pérez, meanwhile, found his way to sixth place with his opening lap of 1:04.833. However, as rivals crossed the line he dropped to eighth place and while Verstappen would stay in the garage for the final runs, Pérez had to go again.
In the end of though, the Mexican didn’t need to the boost of an extra flyer and as McLaren’s Lando Norris finished second behind Verstappen and ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, Pérez backed out of his final flyer as other failed to make significant gains he settled for his opening lap time and P8.
Eliminated at the end of the first segment were Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen in P16 ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and the Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.
In the second segment Pérez was first out on track, on medium tyres, and the Mexican gave the remaining drivers in the field a target of 1:04.554 to aim at. Verstappen then headed out on mediums and immediately jumped to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:04.208.
Hamilton then took second but was soon eclipsed by McLaren’s Lando Norris and Pérez who went for a second attempt of 1:04.483.
In the final runs, Verstappen went quicker again hold top spot with a lap of 1:03.927, while Hamilton rose again to take P2 over three tenths down on the Red Bull. Bottas took third place ahead of Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris and Pérez settled for P6 thanks to his second run time.
Fernando Alonso though appeared to be blocked by seventh placed Sebastian Vettel and the stewards quickly announced that they would investigate the incident after the session. George Russell did make it through, however, taking Williams into Q3 for the first time this season.
It meant that both Ferraris failed to make it through, with Carlos Sainz being eliminated in P11 ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, Alonso and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi.
In the first runs of the top-10 shootout Verstappen once again set blistering pace to open his Q3 account with a lap of 1:03.720. McLaren’s Lando Norris also showed good pace to take P2 just over two tenths of a second behind the Dutchman, with Hamilton in third place almost three tenths off Verstappen. Pérez, though, found himself in P5 after the first runs, a little under two tenths of a second behind Bottas.
The Mexican would need to find good gains in the final runs and when the final runs began he was third in the queue out of the pit lane, behind Norris.
Verstappen was at the head of the pack and though the Red Bull driver tried to find more time on his final run he couldn’t make an improvement. Aided by a tow from the championship leader Norris found more time but the Briton couldn’t quite match Verstappen’s opening time and the Red Bull driver’s opening lap was good enough to claim the team’s 67th pole position.
Pérez also benefited from a tow, this time from Norris, and the Mexican found the pace he needed to leapfrog both Mercedes drivers, taking P3 ahead of Hamilton and Bottas.
Behind the Mercedes drivers Pierre Gasly took sixth for AlphaTauri ahead of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda. Vettel finished eighth but will face investigation, while Russell qualified in P9 ahead of Stroll.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:03.720 7 243.954
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:03.768 0.048 7 243.771
3 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:03.990 0.270 7 242.925
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:04.014 0.294 6 242.834
5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:04.049 0.329 6 242.701
6 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:04.107 0.387 6 242.482
7 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:04.273 0.553 6 241.855
8 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:04.570 0.850 6 240.743
9 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:04.591 0.871 3 240.665
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:04.618 0.898 6 240.564
11 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:04.559 0.632 6 240.784
12 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:04.600 0.673 6 240.631
13 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:04.719 0.792 6 240.189
14 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:04.856 0.929 6 239.681
15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:05.083 1.156 6 238.845
16 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:05.009 0.760 9 239.117
17 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:05.051 0.802 6 238.963
18 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:05.195 0.946 6 238.435
19 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:05.427 1.178 9 237.589
20 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:05.951 1.702 9 235.702 -
Sergio Perez wins; Verstappen, Hamilton fail to score
Baku, 6 June 2021: Sergio Pérez took his first victory as a Red Bull Racing driver after team-mate Max Verstappen crashed out from the lead due to a puncture with just six laps left and Lewis Hamilton finished outside the points after locking up under braking on the re-start following the red flag for Verstappen’s crash.
At the race start pole sitter Charles Leclerc got away well and took the lead for Ferrari ahead of front-row starter Hamilton. Verstappen made a solid start from third on the grid to take up position behind the Mercedes driver.
Just behind the top three Pérez made a superb start from P6 and halfway through the opening lap he was past Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and had slotted into fourth place.
Hamilton then passed Leclerc on the long straight to taker the lead but with the Ferrari driver soon getting a DRS boost from the defending champion Verstappen was unable to immediately follow suit and pass the Monegasque driver.
But unable to match Hamilton’s pace, Leclerc lost DRS on lap six, however, and as the leaders crossed the line to start the next lap, Verstappen was power past the Ferrari to take P2. Pérez then repeated the overtake on the next lap to steal P3.
Hamilton headed for the pits at the end of lap 11 and moved to hard tyres, but the Mercedes driver was forced to wait on his marks for a few crucial moments as Gasly passed the Mercedes box.
Red Bull responded to the delay by pitting Verstappen at the end of the next lap. And after a quick 1.9s stop the Dutch driver rejoined ahead of Hamilton.
Pérez made his stop for hard tyres on the following lap, but the Mexican overshot his marks sligfhtly and his stop took a slow 4.3 seconds. Despite the delay he emerged ahead of Hamilton.
At the halfway mark, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll held fourth place having not made a pit stop to switch his starting hard tyres. But on lap 30 the Canadian’s left rear tyre suffered a puncture and he crashed into the wall near to the pit entry. The Safety Car was immediately deployed and the pit lane was closed.
After a short delay while Stroll’s car was recovered racing resumed. Verstappen controlled the re-start well and kept his lead ahead of Pérez and Hamilton. Behind them a ferocious tussle for fourth developed among Gasly, Leclerc and Vettel and it was the Aston Martin driver who profited most.
He made a good move past Leclerc to steal fifth after the re-start and soon after powered past Gasly to claim fourth place.
The race then settled again with Verstappen managing the gap to Pérez and with Mexican resisting constant pressure from Hamilton.
But the race took a dramatic turn on lap 46. As he crossed the line Verstappen RB16B slid sideways and he was pitched into the wall on the straight apparently due to an issue with his rear left tyre.
The race was quickly red-flagged and all cars returned to the pit lane. That allowed teams to change tyres ahead of a standing restart.
And when the lights went out it was Hamilton who made the best start. He pulled alongside pole sitter on the inside line as they powered towards Turn 1. But as they hit the brakes Hamilton locked up. Pérez swept through to claim the lead and Hamilton slid down the escape road. He would rejoin but finished in 15th place.
And two laps later Pérez claimed a deserved second career victory. Sebastian Vettel claimed an equally well worked second place for Aston Martin, with Pierre Gasly grabbing another podium for AlpahTauri. Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, while Yuki Tsunoda finished seventh to give AlphaTauri a double points finish. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished in eighth place ahead of McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and the final point was taken by Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Race
1 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 51 2:13’36.410
2 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 51 2:13’37.795 1.385
3 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 51 2:13’39.172 2.762
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 51 2:13’40.238 3.828
5 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 51 2:13’41.164 4.754
6 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 51 2:13’42.792 6.382
7 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 51 2:13’43.034 6.624
8 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 51 2:13’44.119 7.709
9 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 51 2:13’45.284 8.874
10 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 51 2:13’45.986 9.576
11 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 51 2:13’46.664 10.254
12 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 51 2:13’47.674 11.264
13 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 51 2:13’50.651 14.24
14 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 51 2:13’50.725 14.315
15 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 51 2:13’54.078 17.668
16 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 51 2:14’18.789 42.379
17 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 48 1:33’22.206 Not running
18 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 45 1:25’35.564 Tyre
Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 29 52’15.262 Tyre
Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 3 6’01.705 Power Unit -
Sergio Perez tops FP2; Mercedes struggle in Baku
Baku, 4 June 2021: Sergio Pérez narrowly beat team-mate Max Verstappen by a tenth of a second to hand Red Bull Racing a 1-2 in the second practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Mercedes struggled on the Baku City Circuit.
In the first part of the session, run on medium tyres, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz led the way with a lap of 1:43.162s. Any assault on that benchmark would have to wait, however, as soon after the Spaniard set his time the session was halted.
Nicholas Latifi was forced to use the escape road at Turn 15 after a mistake but when he reversed back onto the track he reported his that his car had lost all power. With his Williams stranded on track and the cranes being positioned to move it the session was red-flagged.
After a seven-minute delay running resumed and the field emerged from the pit lane on softs to undertake their qualifying simulations.
On the red-walled tyre Sainz improved to 1:42.243s to retain P1 with Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc taking P2. The Monegasque driver might have gone quicker on a second flying lap but after setting the fastest first sector he locked up on entry to Turn 15 and went nose first into the barriers.
The contact was not heavy, however, and he was able to reverse away and make his way back to the pits.
The incident meant that several drivers missed out on a meaningful soft tyre run, with one of the disadvantaged being Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes’ driver’s best lap on softs handed him P9 but as quicker times were posted he dropped to P11 at the flag. Team-mate Valtteri Bottas, meanwhile, finished in P16 in a difficult session for the Silver Arrows.
Pérez then found enough time to take P1 with a lap of 1:42.115s. Verstappen also improved as like his team-mate he gained time across multiple soft tyre laps. However, the Dutchman was not happy with the balance of his car and complained of a lack of front-end grip as he claimed P2, 0.101s behind his teammate
Sainz and Leclerc took P3 and P4 in the session respectively, while AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly finished fifth ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso.
The top 10 was completed by Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi, Norris, Alpine driver Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda in the second AlphaTauri.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:42.115 22 211.631
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:42.216 0.101 23 211.422
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:42.243 0.128 24 211.367
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:42.436 0.321 22 210.968
5 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:42.534 0.419 26 210.767
6 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:42.693 0.578 24 210.440
7 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:42.941 0.826 25 209.933
8 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:43.018 0.903 24 209.776
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:43.020 0.905 23 209.772
10 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:43.130 1.015 25 209.549
11 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:43.156 1.041 24 209.496
12 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:43.220 1.105 23 209.366
13 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:43.298 1.183 23 209.208
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:43.812 1.697 21 208.172
15 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:43.881 1.766 22 208.034
16 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:44.184 2.069 23 207.429
17 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:44.557 2.442 24 206.689
18 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:45.563 3.448 23 204.719
19 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:46.095 3.980 12 203.692
20 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:46.983 4.868 5 202.002 -
Sergio Perez quickest in FP 1 ahead of Carlos Sainz
Monaco, 20 May 2021: Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez topped the timesheet in the opening practice session for this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, beating Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen. There was misfortune, though, for home favourite Charles Leclerc who was sidelined by a technical issue for the bulk of the session.
The opening minutes of the hour saw Sainz quickly get into the groove as he traded P1 times with championship leader Lewis Hamilton. The Spaniard should have been joined in that exchange by team-mate Leclerc but after 10 minutes the Monegasque driver headed back to the pits with a gerarbox issue. He would take no further part in the session.
Back on track, Sainz was steadily chipping away at his times and eventually the Ferrari driver worked his way down to a lap of 1:13.388 on this weekend’s C4 medium compound tyre.
Hamilton and Mercedes’ team-mate Bottas edged close to the Spaniard’s time with Hamilton taking P2 behind the Ferrari man. Verstappen then appeared to split the Mercedes as the half hour mark approached.
Alpine’s Fernando Alonso then had a close call as he clipped the barriers in the final corner, damaging his front wing and bringing out the yellow flags.
Verstappen then jumped to the top of the leaderboard with a lap of 1:13.191, set on the C3 hard tyre.
His tenure was brief, however. Both Mercedes drivers edged past the Dutchman’s benchmark with Hamilton taking P1 thanks to a lap of 1:12.995.
Sainz then retook first place by three hundredths of a second before AlpahTauri’s Pierre Gasy’s bolted on soft tyres to take P1 with a lap of 1:12.929.
With 15 minutes to go Verstappen moved to the top on 1:12.648s using medium tyres and team-mate Perez got into the mix with a P2 time of 1:12.817 set on soft tyres.
In the final moments Pérez jumped ahead of his teammate with a session-best time of 1m12.487. Sainz shuffled Verstappen to third with a medium-tyre lap of 1:12.606.
Gasly took fourth for AlphaTauri, just under half a second off Pérez, while Hamilton finished fifth ahead of Bottas. Lando Norris, who yesterday signed a new long-term contract with McLaren, finished seventh ahead of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel. Yuki Tsunoda finished ninth in the second AlphaTauri ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:12.487 36 165.729
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:12.606 0.119 32 165.457
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:12.648 0.161 39 165.361
4 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:12.929 0.442 37 164.724
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:12.995 0.508 34 164.575
6 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:13.131 0.644 36 164.269
7 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:13.236 0.749 31 164.034
8 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:13.732 1.245 33 162.930
9 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:13.746 1.259 39 162.899
10 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:14.081 1.594 31 162.163
11 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:14.090 1.603 33 162.143
12 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:14.106 1.619 27 162.108
13 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:14.205 1.718 37 161.892
14 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:14.268 1.781 41 161.754
15 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:14.281 1.794 36 161.726
16 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:14.320 1.833 37 161.641
17 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:14.616 2.129 33 161.000
18 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:14.801 2.314 35 160.602
19 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:14.840 2.353 35 160.518
20 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:19.618 7.131 4 150.885 -
First studio images show Red Bull’s matte livery of the RB16B
The Charge is on as the covers come off to reveal the first studio images of the Red Bull Racing RB16B in the Team’s iconic matte livery.
The first reveal of the 2021 charger comes as the Team aims to carry the momentum of 2020 into the new season in a bid to fight for this year’s title with Max Verstappen and his new teammate Sergio Perez at the wheel.
Red Bull 2021 launch -
Rare pit-stop error gifts Sergio Perez a deserving maiden F1 win for BWT RP
Sakhir, 6 Dec 2020: Sergio Perez took a stunning maiden victory for Racing Point in Formula 1’s Sakhir Grand Prix after Mercedes’ hopes of a one-two finish collapsed in a disastrous double pit stop and then a late race puncture for long-time race leader George Russell.
All three on the pdoium are the products of Sahara Force India, which now transformed into BWT Racing Point, after the former went into administration and Lance Stroll’s father helped revive the F1 team before it went into oblivion.
Esteban Ocon finished second ahead of Lance Stroll, while Mercedes saw Valtteri Bottas finish eighth after he was massively delayed in the team’s bungled stop and George Russell took night place after he sustained a late race slow puncture that sent him back to the pit lane.
At the start, Russell, starting from P2 on the grid behind pole sitter Bottas, made a good getaway and passed his team-mate. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen also made a good start from P3 on the grid to draw level with Bottas in the early corners.
However, as the field went into Turn 4, Verstappen was squeezed by Pérez on the outside and Bottas on the inside. The Red Bull driver backed out of the fight but on the inside of the corner Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc tried to edge through.
The result was contact between Pérez and Leclerc. Verstappen tried to avoid the collision but went off track and lost control in the gravel. He hit the barriers and his race was immediately over. Leclerc also exited the race but Pérez managed to get back to the pit lane for repairs and a set of medium tyres during the following Safety Car period.
When the race resumed, Russell controlled the re-start well and held the lead. Bottas was passed by McLaren’s Carlos Sainz but the Spaniard went off track in doing so and was forced to give the place back.
As Russell started to eke out a gap at the front, Pérez was the man on the move and by lap 15 the Mexican had muscled his way back to P11.
Red Bull’s Alex Albon was running just ahead of Pérez and on lap 20 both closed in on McLaren’s Lando Norris who was struggling on his opening softs. Albon attacked and made a good move around the outside of the McLaren driver in Turn. Perez also slipped past Norris through Turn 4 and after Norris pitted at the end of the lap, Pérez then mounted an attack on Albon, passing the Red Bull in Turn 4.
Russell pitted from the lead on lap 44, while Bottas made his stop for hard tyres at the end of lap 49 and rejoined eight seconds behind his young team-mate.
Behind the Mercedes pair and third-placed Esteban Ocon, Pérez was flying and a stunning recovery drive looked to have been completed when he powered past the Frenchman to claim the last podium position.
However, the race then took a hugely dramatic turn when Williams stand-in Jack Aitken lost control in the final corner and clipped the wall on the outside. The collision dislodged Aitken’s front wing and with debris on the track a Virtual Safety Car then became a physical one.
Mercedes reacted to the caution, bringing both drivers in for a stacked stop. But amid massive confusion, the championship-winners mixed their tyre sets. Realising the error they sent Bottas out on the hard tyres he had nursed since his pit stop and Russell was sent out on a set of mediums that may have featured incorrect tyres.
The Briton was pitted again and both dropped down the order. Russell immediately began to fight his way back and by the closing laps he had risen back to P2 and was threatening new race leader Perez. But just eight laps from the flag the first-time Mercedes driver was back in the pits with a slow puncture. The stop dropped him to P15 and though he hauled himself back to P9 for his first points finish in F1, he was placed under investigation for possibly running incorrect tyres.
Bottas too was in trouble, trying to nurse his hard tyres to the flag and he was passed by a slew of rivals on his way to an eventual eighth-place finish.
At the front, though, it was Pérez’s day and after 87 chaotic laps the Mexican crossed the line to take his maiden F1 win ahead of Ocon and the second Racing Point of Lance Stroll.
Sainz finished fourth for McLaren ahead of the second Renault of Ricciardo and with Albon sixth, seventh place went to AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat. Bottas held on to eighth ahead of Russell and the final point on offer went to Lando Norris in the second McLaren.
2020 FIA Formula 1 Sakhir Grand Prix – Race
1 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 87 1:31’15.114
2 Esteban Ocon Renault 87 1:31’25.632 10.518
3 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 87 1:31’26.983 11.869
4 Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 87 1:31’27.694 12.580
5 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 87 1:31’28.444 13.330
6 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 87 1:31’28.956 13.842
7 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 87 1:31’29.648 14.534
8 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 87 1:31’30.503 15.389
9 George Russell Mercedes 87 1:31’33.670 18.556
10 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 87 1:31’34.655 19.541
11 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 87 1:31’35.641 20.527
12 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 87 1:31’37.725 22.611
13 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 87 1:31’39.225 24.111
14 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 87 1:31’41.267 26.153
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 87 1:31’47.484 32.370
16 Jack Aitken Williams/Mercedes 87 1:31’48.788 33.674
17 Pietro Fittipaldi Haas/Ferrari 87 1:31’51.972 36.858
