CHECO PEREZ WINNER OF BAKU SPRINT

Sergio Perez once again shined on the street track in Baku and won the first sprint of the season. The Mexican beat Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen to take the extra 8 points that were up for grabs in Azerbaijan.

George Russell was 4th, he managed to overtake and damage Max Verstappen's car for P3 which he failed to hold until the end. Carlos Sainz Jr. was fifth, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll in the last point-scoring place.

Perez was unable to beat Leclerc at the start, but when the DRS system was activated he overtook the Monaco man easily and early for the sprint lead, followed by a routine finish with the Pirelli tires successfully managed.

Charles Leclerc will start again tomorrow from pole position, but considering that the degradation of the tires was significantly greater on the Ferrari compared to the cars of Red Bull, which by the way start on used yellow tires, it will be difficult to fight for the Win, but he will try to remain in the standings for the podium.

Max Verstappen, at the start, had a fierce duel with George Russell, there was contact between the two cars and the Dutchman got a hole in the bodywork, but he managed to finish in third place, and he even missed a bit of overtaking Charles Leclerc despite the damaged RB19.

Yuki Tsunoda again made contact with the safety barriers at the end of the first lap, and again destroyed the right rear wheel and suspension, which meant a virtual safety car period.

The sprint was restarted at the end of the fifth lap. Leclerc was able to fend off Sergio Perez, while Verstappen attacked Russell at the first corner and moved back to third.

Carlos Sainz Jr. there was a close battle with Lewis Hamilton, something that went in favor of Fernando Alonso, who used it to overtake the British driver.

The sprint consisted of only 17 laps, so the DRS system was allowed after only one completed lap after the start/restart, so Perez started using it from the seventh lap and stuck behind the Ferrari car and already at the end of the same lap, the Mexican relatively easily managed to pass the man from Monaco.

Charles Leclerc tried to keep up with Red Bull with the help of the DRS system, but little by little the advantage of the leader increased, so already in the tenth lap it was more than a second.

Max Verstappen managed to be within DRS range behind the Ferrari driver, while Russell was fourth, in a different league, behind Sainz Jr., Alonso and Hamilton.

However, Charles Leclerc sprung a surprise a few laps later, decided to push hard without sparing the tyres, returned to Sergio Perez's DRS zone and with five laps to go tried to push for the win as Verstappen began to give up third place.

Sergio Perez did not allow himself to be surprised, he increased the pace, the Ferrari's tires gave way and in the end the Mexican had an impressive 4 seconds advantage over Charles Leclerc when he crossed the finish line.