2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Race Review

As the fourth round of the 2023 Formula One season comes to an end, we saw a brand new driver get on the podium, as well as the signs of a championship fight brewing in the background. Join Supercars.GH as we give you a rundown of what happened at the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Leclerc Leads From The Start

Charles Leclerc made most of his pole position and pounced as soon as the five red lights went out. He was closely chased by the Red Bull pair, while Fernando Alonso got past Lewis Hamilton with a sneaky move.

Both Esteban Ocon and Nico Hülkenberg had to take a pitlane start, while Oscar Piastri had a little tangle with Alex Albon at the back. Unlike previous races in this circuit, the first lap saw relatively little carnage.

The Yellow Flag Comes Out

Lewis Hamilton was the first driver to come into the pits, initiating the first round of pit stops. A few moments later, we had our first yellow flag as Nyck de Vries clipped the wall and broke his front suspension.

This spelled disaster for Max Verstappen, who had pitted just a few moments earlier. On the other side of the garage, Sergio Perez capitalized on the moment for a free pit stop and ultimately head to the front of the pack.

The King of the Street Circuits

In the ensuing restart, Perez comfortably lead away from Leclerc, who fell victim to Max Verstappen some laps later. The walls of Baku seemed closer than ever, with several drivers including Stroll, Verstappen, and Perez himself clipping the walls at some point or another.

As the 51 laps wound down, it was Perez who crossed the line first to secure his second victory of the season. Not only that, but he became the first driver to win more than one race at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix circuit.

Verstappen came in at P2, while Leclerc did well to fend off Alonso to claim the final podium place. George Russell claimed the fastest lap point to himself.

F1 heads to the United States for the Miami Grand Prix next week, so be sure to tune in for our coverage of the event. Until then, make sure to visit our blog and social media pages for more exciting content like this.

Driver	Name	Time	Position
1	Sergio Perez	1:32:42.436	25
2	Max Verstappen	+2.137s	18
3	Charles Leclerc	+21.217s	15
4	Fernando Alonso	+22.024s	12
5	Carlos Sainz	+45.491s	10
6	Lewis Hamilton	+46.145s	8
7	Lance Stroll	+51.617s	6
8	George Russell	+74.240s	5
9	Lando Norris	+80.376s	2
10	Yuki Tsunoda	+83.862s	1
11	Oscar Piastri	+86.501s	0
12	Alexander Albon	+88.623s	0
13	Kevin Magnussen	+89.729s	0
14	Pierre Gasly	+91.332s	0
15	Esteban Ocon	+97.794s	0
16	Logan Sargeant	+100.943s	0
17	Nico Hulkenberg	+1 lap	0
18	Valtteri Bottas	+1 lap	0
19	Zhou Guanyu	DNF	0
20	Nyck De Vries	DNF	0