Sergio Perez wins the chaotic 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

The 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was a race that looked settled several times and then politely refused to remain settled. On 6 June 2021 in Baku, Sergio Perez won for Red Bull after Max Verstappen suffered a late tyre failure from the lead and Lewis Hamilton ran straight on at the restart.

Background

The 2021 season was already centred on the championship fight between Verstappen and Hamilton. Red Bull had become a consistent threat to Mercedes, and Baku offered exactly the kind of mixed circuit that could expose strengths and weaknesses in both cars. The long main straight rewarded efficiency and power, while the tight castle section punished overconfidence in a very literal way.

Charles Leclerc took pole for Ferrari, but few expected Ferrari to control the race over a full distance. Hamilton, Verstappen and Perez all had the pace to fight for the win, and the strategic battle began almost immediately once the DRS trains and pit-stop windows opened.

The race turns

Hamilton passed Leclerc early, but Verstappen and Perez soon moved into the fight. The pit stops changed the lead order, with Verstappen emerging ahead and Perez splitting him from Hamilton. Red Bull appeared to have control, especially once Perez settled into second and Mercedes could no longer attack both cars directly.

The first major shock came when Lance Stroll crashed at high speed on the main straight after an apparent tyre failure. He was unhurt, but the safety car brought the field back together. Verstappen survived that restart and looked set for victory until lap 47, when his own left-rear tyre failed on the straight. The Red Bull hit the wall, the race was stopped, and Baku prepared its final trick.

The restart

The race resumed with a two-lap standing restart. Perez lined up first, Hamilton second, followed by Sebastian Vettel, Pierre Gasly and Leclerc. Hamilton launched well and briefly looked capable of taking the lead, but he locked up into Turn 1 and went down the escape road. His race ended in 15th place, with no points on a day when Verstappen had already retired.

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Perez held on to win, Vettel finished second for Aston Martin, and Gasly completed the podium for AlphaTauri after holding off Leclerc. It was Perez’s second Formula 1 victory and his first for Red Bull.

Place in the season

Baku 2021 became one of the defining early races of the Verstappen-Hamilton title fight precisely because neither title contender scored. Verstappen lost a likely win through no fault of his own. Hamilton had a rare opening and lost it in one braking zone. Perez, often hired to provide Red Bull with strategic support, instead took the prize himself.

It was a strange, sharp little championship parable: the lead Red Bull crashed, the lead Mercedes overshot the corner, and the driver hired to make things less complicated won the whole thing.