Sergio Perez holds an outstanding record on the streets of Baku. He is still the only driver to have multiple wins [2] at the Baku Street Circuit. And during the 2024 Azerbaijan GP, the Mexican racing ace almost ended his 11-race podium drought before an unfortunate coming together with Carlos Sainz ended his race.
Throughout the weekend, the #11 driver was looking more comfortable in his RB20 than Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen. This has not been the case for the majority of the season so far.
When quizzed whether the team had intentionally favored the car’s handling to suit Perez‘s driving style, the Dutchman was quick to refute those suggestions. Rather, the mechanics made some substantial set-up changes going into qualifying which disrupted the balance of the RB20 for Verstappen’s liking.
He said on X [formerly Twitter], “No, no, no. I think the changes that we did to the car were positive but then you still need to put the speed into the car. I think we were heading into the right direction but the changes we made before qualifying tipped it over the edge and we paid the price on that unfortunately in the race.”
️ | Max denies the changes to the car is leaning more into Checo’s favour since Monza
“No, no, no. I think the changes that we did to the car were positive but then you still need to put the speed into the car.
I think we were heading into the right direction but the changes… pic.twitter.com/THHiCd48U6
— RBR News (@redbulletin) September 15, 2024
Perez, on the other hand, seemed much more comfortable with his RB20. This was apparent in his race pace as he always had the upper hand on his teammate. In the later stages of the Grand Prix, the Mexican was also in contention of fighting for the race win, while Verstappen struggled to even keep the likes of Lando Norris and George Russell at bay.
Perez makes a statement despite his agonizing DNF
With only a handful of races to go this season, Perez needs to justify his place within the team. Rumors have been going around that the Milton-Keynes-based outfit are looking to replace him from 2025 onwards.
The Azerbaijan GP was the perfect occasion for him to make a strong case for himself. He began the weekend on the right note. During qualifying, he out-qualified Verstappen for the first time this season and in the process ended a 33-race streak of getting out-qualified by the Dutchman.
Perez finally puts up a respectable drive and this happens pic.twitter.com/AsS5EIKMre
— Fifth Gear (@NotFifthGear) September 15, 2024
In the latter half of the race, he was embroiled in a three-way battle with Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri for the race win. On the penultimate lap, however, he crashed out of the race after making contact with Sainz coming out of turn three.
While this result would be a disappointment for the #11 driver, he has made a strong statement to Red Bull about his value when they get the car working in the right window for him.
