Baku (Azerbaijan): Sergio Perez won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in a duel shootout after championship leader Max Verstappen crashed while leading with a tire error and Lewis Hamilton tried off course to score the victory with the standing restart.
Verstappen was four rounds away from a second consecutive victory on Sunday when his Red Bull suddenly pushed hard against the wall with a point on his left rear tire. The Dutchman got out of his car, inspected the tire and kicked it in anger before stomping in horror over the race-changing failure.
“Is he OK?” radio contestant and seven-time champion Hamilton. Stepping was good, but Red Bull was furious about a second failure of a Pirelli tire in the race and asked for safety reasons for a stop to have tires changed. Lance Stroll crashed earlier in the race after his own unexpected tire failure. Formula One took the race with a red flag and brought the field to a pit track before deciding to continue again with a standing start for a two-lap to the finish line.
Perez was the leader, but Hamilton shot past him in his attempt to win the race and regain the Verstappen points leader. But he could not brake in the first corner, and his Mercedes slipped off the track. Hamilton dropped to 15th place and a series of 54 consecutive races and took a points position.
“So sorry, guys,” he told the team. Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel finished second to Aston Martin after an impressive run after qualifying 11th. Pierre Gasly was third for AlphaTauri. Sunday’s race was the second red flag F1 round of the year after Valtteri Bottas and George Russell crashed on Imola in April, and the longest suspension since a fiery crash for Romain Grosjean in Bahrain last year caused the race to be more if an hour is stopped. .
It was the second win of the career for Perez, who is in his first season with Red Bull, and it saved the race for the team that was heading for a 1-2 finish line slightly before Verstappen’s band failed.
Source: Telangana Today