BAKU: Sergio Perez took advantage of a fortunately timed safety car to beat his teammate Max Verstappen to the victory in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday, adding it to the sprint he secured the day before, as Red Bull kept up its winning start to 2023.
Perez took the lead when he managed to save time pitting during a safety car period after Verstappen had come in a lap earlier.
“Well done guys, we dominated this weekend,” Perez told his team over the radio. “We are in the fight, guys.”
Verstappen started second behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc but swept past him on the long start-finish straight at the end of lap 3, the first lap on which drivers were allowed to use the DRS overtake assist system on the rear wing.
It was a copy of the pass Perez made on Leclerc on his way to winning the sprint race Saturday. After Verstappen took the lead Sunday, Perez needed only two more laps for his own similar pass on Leclerc to seize second, as Red Bull underlined its status as F1’s dominant team.
Perez benefited when an accident by Nyck de Vries brought out the safety car after his AlphaTauri slid off the track with a broken suspension, just after Verstappen had pitted from the lead. The safety car meant Pérez and Leclerc lost less time on their stops and came out ahead of Verstappen.
After that, the two Red Bull drivers pulled away from the pack and cruised to a straightforward win. Red Bull has won all four Grand Prix races this season and the sprint in Baku on Saturday. Leclerc was third to continue his recovery after a poor start to the year and said the Red Bulls had been “in another league” for race pace.
With the win Perez cut Verstappen’s standings lead to six points. They each have two victories this season but Perez lost ground at the last race in Australia when he was fifth after sliding off the track in qualifying.
Perez is the only driver to win in Baku more than once and has four podium finishes in his last five races there. The Mexican driver joked he had won “two and a half” times in Azerbaijan including Saturday’s sprint.
“It is what it is,” Verstappen said of his result, describing the safety car timing as “unlucky.”
Fernando Alonso finished in fourth place, showing strong pace for Aston Martin after issues in qualifying on Friday, ahead of Carlos Sainz, Jr. for Ferrari and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who recovered after losing out in the safety car period like Verstappen.
The second Aston Martin of Lance Stroll took seventh ahead of Hamilton’s teammate George Russell, with McLaren’s Lando Norris and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda ninth and 10th, respectively.
Sergio Perez beats Max Verstappen to win Azerbaijan Grand Prix
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Sergio Perez beats Max Verstappen to win Azerbaijan Grand Prix
- Perez took the lead when he managed to save time pitting during a safety car
- Verstappen started second behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc but swept past him
Bethell spins England to 3-0 sweep over Sri Lanka in T20 World Cup warmup
- The series served as a dress rehearsal for the 20-nation showpiece that Sri Lanka is co-hosting with India
- The left-armer snared three wickets in a dramatic over to flip the game on its head as the hosts were skittled for 116 with three balls to spare
PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka: Jacob Bethell underlined his importance to England’s T20 World Cup hopes as he spun them to a hard-fought 12-run win over Sri Lanka to complete a 3-0 clean sweep at Pallekele on Tuesday.
The series served as a dress rehearsal for the 20-nation showpiece that Sri Lanka is co-hosting with India.
The contest hung in the balance heading into the 18th over with Sri Lanka needing 21 runs off 18 balls with four wickets in hand but the part-time spin of Bethel turned the game.
The left-armer snared three wickets in a dramatic over to flip the game on its head as the hosts were skittled for 116 with three balls to spare. Bethel finished with career-best figures of four for 11.
“It was one of the most fun games I have been part of,” said England captain Harry Brook.
“We showed we can adapt to challenging conditions. Today we bowled 16 overs of spin and to do that against a Sri Lankan side in their own conditions is really satisfying.”
England had mustered only 128 for nine but showcased their depth and nous, defending a total that looked well below par on a surface offering turn and bounce.
After just four overs from the quicks, the spinners took center stage and wove a web around the Sri Lankan batters, much as they had throughout the tour.
The spinners had been pivotal in England’s ODI series triumph in Colombo last week and again proved the ace up their sleeve.
England head to India to launch their World Cup campaign with momentum at their backs, while Sri Lanka have plenty of soul-searching to do with their frailties against spin brutally exposed.
Bethel found able allies in Will Jacks, who bagged three wickets, while fellow tweakers Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson chipped in with one apiece to keep the hosts on a tight leash.
Sam Curran, England’s hero in the opening game with a hat-trick, showed his all-round pedigree in the dead rubber, carving out a career-best 58 from 48 balls to rescue the side that had slipped to 60 for six.
Returning quick Dushmantha Chameera, back after a groin injury, was a rare bright spark for Sri Lanka, claiming his maiden five-wicket haul in T20Is. His five for 24 are the best figures in England-Sri Lanka contests and the third-best ever at Pallekele.
“Very disappointing. We need to address a few areas, especially the options we take against spin bowling,” said Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka.
“I thought we had addressed that issue in the last game but the old problems resurfaced again.”
Both sides begin their World Cup campaign next Sunday with Sri Lanka hosting Ireland in Colombo while England face Nepal in Mumbai.
