BAKU CITY, Azerbaijan — Sergio Perez doubled down Sunday at the Baku City Circuit, winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix one day after he won the Formula 1 Sprint race.
Perez led his Red Bull teammate, Max Verstappen, to the checkered flag in the 51-lap race, with Charles Leclerc scoring the first podium finish of the season for Ferrari in third.
Verstappen and Perez moved around polesitter Leclerc early in the race and took turns turning the fastest lap of the race before a Safety Car entered the fray when Nyck de Vries stopped on the race track.
Verstappen pitted under the yellow flag and Perez made his stop during the Safety Car period, allowing the Mexican driver to gain the lead.
“It really worked out today for us,” said Perez after his second victory of the season. “We managed to stay in the DRS train, and we managed to keep the pressure on Max. I think we had better deg on that first stint. It was looking good already from that side, then the Safety Car came and bunched everyone up and it was again another race on the hard tire.
“I think it was very close between us,” Perez added. “We pushed to the maximum today. We both clipped the wall a few times. We were pushing out there. The way Max pushed me throughout the race was really hard, but we managed to keep him under control.”
Dropping to third, Verstappen had to run down Leclerc for a second time, which he did successfully, chasing his teammate to the finish.
Leclerc held off Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso to finish third, with Carlos Sainz taking fifth in the second Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton was sixth for Mercedes.
Verstappen leads Perez by six points after four races.
The first of three Formula 1 races in the United States is up next with the United States for the Miami Grand Prix set May 5-7.