Perez overjoyed with win in Baku: 'Max put a lot of pressure on me'
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Sergio Perez has also won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after the sprint race in Baku. The Mexican driver is a fish out of water on street circuits and he lived up to that this weekend. The veteran is therefore overjoyed with his second GP victory of the Formula 1 season.
The Mexican driver took advantage of a tactical lapse at the pit wall of his own team Red Bull Racing, causing Max Verstappen to lose two positions. Verstappen went in during the yellow flag, but was presented with the bill when the safety car came out not much later. For Perez, it marked his second GP win of 2023.
Perez overjoyed with win in Baku
"It really worked out for us today. We managed to stay within the DRS train and keep the pressure on Max, which I think we had better degredation on that first stint," Perez said after the race. Throughout the race, both Red Bull drivers drove almost identical lap times, but the Mexican managed to stay ahead of his teammate.
Whether he would have beaten Verstappen even if the Dutchman had not ended up behind him due to Red Bull's strategic lapse, Perez dare not miss the point. However, he does think it would have been "very close". "I think it was very close between us, we pushed the maximum today. We both touched the wall a few times, and the way Max pushed me was really hard. We managed to keep him under control.," Perez continued in his post-race interview.