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“Max Verstappen has to thank Sergio Perez for the win” – Former world champion thinks Perez was MVP of Azerbaijan GP

Samriddhi Jaiswal
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"Max Verstappen has to thank Sergio Perez for the win" - Former world champion thinks Perez was MVP of Azerbaijan GP

Max Verstappen won the Azerbaijan GP as he took over his teammate Sergio Perez and benefitted from Ferrari’s double DNF.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed victory at the Baku City Circuit extending his lead in the championship standings.

The Dutchman was surely quicker than his teammate Sergio Perez in Baku, but former two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen thinks Verstappen did not win entirely on his own merits.

Hakkinen believes that Verstappen got benefitted from Perez at a very crucial stage of the race. In his column for Unibet, Hakkinen wrote, “Max has Checo to thank for the win, in my opinion. Not only in accepting the team’s strategy but also in having a five-second pit stop at a key moment in the race.”

Furthermore, the former Finnish driver also highlighted how the results are turning out to be a disaster for Ferrari.

He believes the full focus of the Maranello-based team in the future needs to be on solving the reliability problems.

With every mistake that Ferrari makes, Red bull is ready to take advantage and use it as an opportunity to increase the gap.

Also Read: Former F1 doctor on potential health effects porpoising can cause on drivers

Sergio Perez and Verstappen’s swap were not strict team orders

The Red Bull F1 team came under a lot of fire after it asked Perez to not put up a fight with Verstappen who had comfortably overtaken him for the lead in Baku.

Many saw the strategy call of the Milton-Keynes-based team as a calculated move to favour championship leader Verstappen. However, team boss Christian Horner does not think that this was the case.

“I think today wasn’t strictly team orders,” explained Horner. “It was just a question of you’ve got simply a faster car and a slower car.”

“Max had a significant pace advantage on Checo at that point, who had quite heavy graining on his rear tyres. So it’s just a question of guys, let’s not put each other against the pit wall here. If one car is quicker, you know, concede, and let’s focus on getting the best result for the team.”

Also Read: Charles Leclerc equals Michael Schumacher’s prestigious qualifying record with Ferrari

About the author

Samriddhi Jaiswal

Samriddhi Jaiswal

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Samriddhi Jaiswal is an F1 editor and writer at The SportsRush. She started her career as a business journalist but soon found her calling in lights out here we go! Samriddhi has been a Ferrari fan even when her interaction with F1 was occasional. Her first real experience with the thrilling sport came when Charles Leclerc clinched his iconic victory in Spa and Monza and painted the track red. Now, a Tifosi, Samriddhi is a hardcore fan of the prancing horse and can relate to the chaos within the Italian camp and also admires Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. Off the track, she finds her home in books and musical instruments.

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