BAKU CITY, Azerbaijan — Red Bull driver Sergio Perez won Saturday’s Formula 1 Sprint Race, which was a lead into Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit.
The first Sprint Race of the season saw Perez hold off Charles Leclerc, who qualified on the pole for Sunday’s race for Ferrari, to earn the eight points at stake for the race winner.
With a new Sprint format, Shootout qualifying set the grid for the 17-lap dash.
“It was good,” said Perez. “With these tricky sessions, it’s been a lot of pressure put on us and our teams – engineers, mechanics, drivers. So, to get away with maximum points was the main objective, but obviously we know that tomorrow is the main race.
“We were able to learn a bit (for the Grand Prix), but obviously tomorrow we are going to be on much higher fuel loads and track conditions are going to be different. I think there is good learning today.”
Leclerc took the early lead with Max Verstappen and Mercedes driver George Russell fighting for position, with the two making contact and Russell gaining the position.
Following a Safety Car period because of an incident involving AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda Perez challenged Leclerc, while Verstappen despite his damaged Red Bull machine, reclaimed third from Russell.
Perez challenged Leclerc and made a pass for the lead on lap eight.
He led the rest of the distance, while Leclerc held off Verstappen for second.
Russell and Carlos Sainz followed in fourth and fifth respectively, with Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Lance Stroll securing the final points on offer.
American rookie Logan Sargeant was withdrawn from the sprint race after crashing his Williams car during the qualifying session.