Red Bull’s Sergio Perez is riding high after his two wins in Azerbaijan put him within touching distance of reigning world champion Max Verstappen in the Drivers’ Standings.
Perez claimed victory in both the Sprint race and Grand Prix, showing his skill around street circuits, besting both pole sitter Charles Leclerc and his teammate Max Verstappen.
Despite Ferrari mounting a comeback in qualifying, with Leclerc taking pole in both the Sprint and Grand Prix, the Italian team only appeared to have good one-lap pace, finding themselves easily overtaken by the RB19’s stronger race performance.
The success in Azerbaijan means that, after four rounds, Perez and Verstappen have both won two Grand Prix races, raising the heat in their inter-team rivalry.
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As Verstappen has finished either P1 or P2 in every Grand Prix so far, he currently leads the Drivers’ title race with 93 points but is now closely followed by Perez on 87.
“It has been an unbelievable weekend, I am super pleased and I cannot say more about the team, it has been a tremendous day for us and I am so proud of everyone,” Perez said after the race.
“I want to say a big thanks to Thibaut, he is one of my mechanics who is at home for personal reasons, but he is still a very big part of our team.
“The team enjoy calling me the King of the Streets, I am super happy for them all.
“They have been tremendous all weekend, from the sprint race yesterday through to the way we executed the race today, it was perfect.
“I am definitely in the fight for the title, not just because of Baku, I believe I can be very good anywhere this season and now I am just thinking of Miami.”
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Regardless of who wins the battle for the Drivers’ title, Red Bull will be ecstatic to see that, once again, their line up dominated the weekend, as they remain the only team to have won a race this season.
Red Bull’s commanding performance on track has given the team an almost 100 point lead over their closest rivals Aston Martin.
The title-leaders are on 180 points, Aston Martin sit on 87, Mercedes are down in P3 with 76 and Ferrari remain in P4 with 62.