Pérez Overtakes Leclerc to Win F1 Sprint in Azerbaijan

Red Bull Racing's Mexican driver Sergio Pérez steers his car during the sprint race ahead of the Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit in Baku on April 29, 2023. (AFP)
Red Bull Racing's Mexican driver Sergio Pérez steers his car during the sprint race ahead of the Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit in Baku on April 29, 2023. (AFP)
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Pérez Overtakes Leclerc to Win F1 Sprint in Azerbaijan

Red Bull Racing's Mexican driver Sergio Pérez steers his car during the sprint race ahead of the Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit in Baku on April 29, 2023. (AFP)
Red Bull Racing's Mexican driver Sergio Pérez steers his car during the sprint race ahead of the Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit in Baku on April 29, 2023. (AFP)

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American driver Logan Sargeant was withdrawn from the sprint by Williams after the team couldn't repair crash damage in time.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.



La Liga President Rejects Courtois’ Plea to Delay Real Madrid’s 25-26 Opener for More Rest Time

Thibaut Courtois #1 of Real Madrid C. F. reacts during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 semifinal match between Winner Game 59 and Winner Game 60 at MetLife Stadium on July 09, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Getty Images/AFP)
Thibaut Courtois #1 of Real Madrid C. F. reacts during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 semifinal match between Winner Game 59 and Winner Game 60 at MetLife Stadium on July 09, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Getty Images/AFP)
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La Liga President Rejects Courtois’ Plea to Delay Real Madrid’s 25-26 Opener for More Rest Time

Thibaut Courtois #1 of Real Madrid C. F. reacts during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 semifinal match between Winner Game 59 and Winner Game 60 at MetLife Stadium on July 09, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Getty Images/AFP)
Thibaut Courtois #1 of Real Madrid C. F. reacts during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 semifinal match between Winner Game 59 and Winner Game 60 at MetLife Stadium on July 09, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Getty Images/AFP)

Spanish league president Javier Tebas rejected Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois' plea to postpone the team's 2025-26 opener to give players time to rest following the expanded Club World Cup.

Real Madrid was eliminated with a 4-0 semifinal loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday and will have a 41-day offseason before their La Liga opener against Osasuna on Aug. 19.

Tebas said the decision not to move the opener was made by the Spanish Football Federation and La Liga agreed with it. He said players were to have 21 days off and 21 days of preseason training.

"I believe that they will have 20 days to rest instead of 21 and no other leagues like the Premier League for Chelsea or the French Ligue 1 for PSG are changing the games," he said through a translator during a Friday interview with The Associated Press. "So I don’t believe that we should change the calendar for that reason, especially thinking that it’s a matter of one day."

Real Madrid played 68 competitive matches in a season that started Aug. 18: 38 in the league, 14 in the Champions League, six each in the Copa del Rey and the Club World Cup, two in the Spanish Super Cup and one apiece in the European Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup.

PSG will play its 65th game in Sunday's Club World Cup final and Chelsea its 64th. PSG opens its season from Aug. 15-17 at Nantes and Chelsea starts against Crystal Palace on Aug. 17.

"It’s always the same for La Liga," Courtois said Wednesday. "To listen those comments from a president it’s something that I haven’t seen it in Italy, or in England, nor the NBA and NFL. It’s fine if Tebas doesn’t like the Club World Cup, but it exists. It’s part of the FIFA calendar. We’re here competing, and it seems this gentleman just wants to be the focus. I’ve never seen a president of another competition speak like that. The players' health is on the line."

On other topics:

Real Madrid causing problems Tebas said Real Madrid seeking its own path rather than working collectively with La Liga is his biggest problem.

"They don’t actually understand that we’re a huge league and that if we will collaborate it’s going to be positive for all of us," he said. "The believe in the Super League and in order to get a strong Super League they need a weak national league. So they are working toward that objective."

Camp Nou renovation Barcelona hopes to move back to Camp Nou after two seasons at the Olympic Stadium. Camp Nou's renovations are ongoing.

"They are waiting for a license that is provided by the city hall," Tebas said. "We believe that probably by the fourth week of the competition he should be ready to play again."

That would put the Blaugrana on track for a mid-September return to a venue that will remain under construction.

Barcelona is on track to meeting financial guidelines that would allow them to make moves in the transfer market.

"Barcelona’s financial situation is good," Tebas said. "They are close to acquiring all the players they want in the coming months."