Charles Leclerc, driving for Ferrari, gave Red Bull their toughest race yet in the Baku sprint of the Formula 1 2023 season. Despite suggestions from Red Bull’s Sergio Perez that he was not at his peak pace, Leclerc started the race from pole position, having qualified first in Friday qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Leclerc made a perfect start to the sprint and held on to the lead for several laps until Perez managed to catch up and overtake him on the eighth lap of the 17-lap mini race. Perez went on to win the race with a margin of four-and-a-half seconds over Leclerc. However, Leclerc managed to keep Red Bull’s Max Verstappen behind him, albeit with the caveat that Verstappen was carrying major sidepod damage after an earlier collision with George Russell of Mercedes.
