The 2023 Azerbaijan GP was one of the most sublime performances that Sergio Perez put in during his time with Red Bull. On one of the rare occasions, the #11 driver beat his teammate Max Verstappen to bag his second win of that season — which also turned out to be his sixth and final Grand Prix win.
And all the hype that the Mexican driver garnered took the attention off of an intense battle between Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso for the final podium place.
In the cool-down room after the race, Leclerc revealed just how close the Spanish racing ace had gotten to taking off P3 from him.
HE OWNS THE BAKU STREETS!! @SChecoPerez WINNSS the #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/7s3OIHRrk9
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) April 30, 2023
“Fernando [Alonso] was coming back at the end. I think he finished six-tenths behind me,” he revealed which took Verstappen by surprise.
“Oh What?!” exclaimed the Dutchman.
Alonso’s performances that season shouldn’t have come as a surprise for Verstappen. The #14 driver was at the height of his powers for Aston Martin that year, especially in the first half of the season when the AMR23 was arguably the second-fastest car.
The two-time world champion rounded off the 2023 season with eight podiums for the Silverstone-based team leading to a P4 finish for the Spaniard — his best result since the 2013 season.
Even though Alonso and Aston Martin’s form tailed off in the second half of the year, it was a rather strong showing. And amid his eight podium finishes, the Oviedo-born driver’s charge in Baku just went under the radar.
How the proceedings unfolded in Perez’s last Red Bull win in Baku
Perez would not go on to win another race for the Milton Keynes-based team since his win at Baku in 2023. Eventually, his deteriorating performances led to the team sacking him at the end of the 2024 season.
But at the Baku Street Circuit, the #11 driver executed a clinical drive to take the lead off of his teammate, Verstappen after pitting for fresh tires under the Safety Car caused by RB (erstwhile AlphaTauri) driver, Nyck de Vries’ retirement.
Further back, Verstappen clung onto P2 after taking the lead from pole-sitter, Leclerc at the very beginning of the race. But it wasn’t smooth sailing for the Monegasque, who was being hounded by the AMR23 of Alonso.
The Aston Martin driver was striving to maintain his hundred percent podium record until that point in the 2023 season. In all of the three previous races in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Australia, Alonso had tasted the champagne, but Baku was proving to be a tough track for Aston.
The Silverstone-based team’s performance arguably started to take a step back in Baku for the first time that year. In the end, Leclerc saved his podium with the #14 driver finishing eight-tenths behind him in fourth place at the chequered flag.
