Sergio Perez overtakes Charles Leclerc to win first sprint race of F1 2023 in Baku
Starting from second on the grid🍃, Perez remained behind Leclerc in the opening phase of the race which was halted by a Safety Car period due to Yuki Tsunoda.
Once Tsunoda’s debris and wheel was cleared it wasn’t long until🎶🌞 Perez powered past Leclerc into Turn 1.
Perez took the lead on Lap 8 of the sprint befꦕore opening up a comfortable 4.4s lead over Leclerc to take the victory.
Leclerc kep⛦t Verstappen behind at the chequered flag, with the Red 🌟Bull driver nursing minor floor damage following contact with George Russell on the opening lap.
Once Verstappen got past Russell, having lost out on Lap 1,ꦛ the Mercedes driver settled into fourth behind the leading trio.
Carlos Sainz finished fifth after overtakin🅺g Lewis Hamilton at the Safety Car restart, f😼ending off Fernando Alonso in sixth.
Hamilton finished seventh, while Lance Stroll rounded out the poꦡints in the sprint after overtaking Alex Albon on Lap 12 at Turn 1.
Albon was ninth ahead of Oscar Piastri, who🌠 rounded out the top 10.
Piastri enjoyeꦏd a strong sprint race, overtaking McLaren teammate Lando 𒁃Norris early on, who was forced into a pit stop after starting on the less durable softs.
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