Sergio Pérez won the Formula One sprint race in Azerbaijan on Saturday to extend Red Bull's winning start to the season, as his teammate Max Verstappen settled for third in a damaged car behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc started on pole — as he will for the main Azerbaijan Grand Prix race on Sunday — but was overtaken by Pérez just before the halfway point of the 17-lap sprint on the long seafront straight. The Mexican driver cruised to the win, which cuts his deficit to leader Verstappen in the standings by two points to 13.
Leclerc held on to second as Verstappen closed in on the final lap to give Ferrari its first podium finish of 2023 following a dismal start to the season. The Red Bull team told Verstappen over the radio he had damage to the car's floor following contact with George Russell early in the race, and a hole was visible in his left sidepod. Verstappen lost third place in the incident, then recovered it at a safety car restart.
Red Bull has won all three Grand Prix races this season, with Verstappen winning the opener in Bahrain and then in Australia, after Pérez came first in Saudi Arabia.
The safety car was called out because Yuki Tsunoda slid into the wall, leaving behind a tire and debris from his AlphaTauri.
American driver Logan Sargeant was withdrawn from the sprint by Williams after the team couldn't repair crash damage in time. He had qualified 15th for the sprint after crashing into a barrier the first session of the shootout.
For the first time, there was a shortened “shootout” qualifying session for the sprint race, in addition to a standard qualifying session Friday for Sunday's Grand Prix. Leclerc qualified on pole for both races despite hitting the wall late in the Saturday “shootout.”
It was the first time that an F1 sprint did not set the grid for the main race. F1 stopped doing that in an attempt to encourage drivers to take more risks for sprint points.
