Azerbaijan: post-race 2023

Well, my bet came off, which is nice, but the race was perhaps the most boring Azerbaijan has ever hosted. However, there were some items of interest.

Off the line, the top six flew in formation.

Fast forward a few laps and both Red Bulls had got past Leclerc. Perez managed his tyres better than his team mate which meant the Mexican was in prime position to strike and claim the lead. Tyre management had also been a problem for Hamilton who had pitted relatively early, to Alonso’s advantage. The team called Verstappen in, only for De Vries to clock an inside corner. He was far from the only one to do so during the race but he did bugger his car and bring out a safety car.

The other top drivers all pitted, pushing Verstappen behind Leclerc and meaning Hamilton was behind his team mate. On the restart, Verstappen immediately passed Leclerc and Russell messed it up, allowing his team mate right past him.

For the most part, that was that for the race. While the DRS zone on the very long straight had been shortened from last year there was still surprisingly little overtaking until Hulkenberg’s tyres (he and Ocon held on for very late stops) fell off a cliff.

Speaking of Ocon, he came in for a final lap pit stop. This was alarming as the pit lane was full of photographers, who managed to avoid getting run over, but there will be a bollocking for someone over that.

At the front, Perez gradually increased his lead over Verstappen, who could not close up. It’s possible an apparent engine braking problem was the cause of this, but it was nevertheless an assured performance by the Mexican, who recorded his second win of the weekend.

Twenty seconds down the road was Leclerc, one second ahead of Alonso. Sainz and Hamilton (who had often been in DRS range yet still couldn’t pass the Ferrari) followed, as did Stroll, Russell, Norris, and Tsunoda.

In addition to De Vries, Zhou Guanyu had to box and retire his car.

So, passing was trickier than usual despite a massive straight, and for the second race this season Verstappen was chasing Perez but ended up unable to mount a real challenge. Could this be the Mexican’s year?

It’s worth remembering that a couple of the early circuits have been Perez specials (Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan). If he can mix it with Verstappen at places like Spa and Silverstone then he’s got a realistic shot at the title. But he’s certainly doing rather well. We might be about to find out just how Verstappen handles a team mate that can beat him on multiple occasions.

Bad news: next up is Miami. Because the US really needs multiple circuits.

Morris Dancer