There's an F1 phenomenon on track at Baku... but nobody has noticed

Just a little note of recognition on the Baku F1 weekend of Sergio Perez’s prowess around these windy streets. Even if the rest of his weekend falls away, there he was in the Thursday practices putting the Cadillac – a car which inevitably vies with Aston Martin as the slowest – in the midfield. In FP2 he was P13, 1sec faster than team-mate Valtteri Bottas, faster than both Audis and both Williams with a time 2.2% slower than that of the session-heading Mercedes of George Russell. The Cadillac has so far averaged 4.2% off pole, with a best of 3.3% off (at Spa). Perez was effectively bringing over 1sec-worth of performance to that which he can usually provide.

It’s always been this way. In the first race around here a decade ago, he set the second fastest qualifying time, slower only than Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes. In a Force India. He had to take a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox damaged when he’d crashed on the Friday. But nonetheless it was a remarkable achievement in a car which on merit was nowhere near the level he’d put it. That year’s Force India averaged 1.7% off pole but around here Checo had got it to within 0.7%, which was Ferrari/Red Bull territory – and faster than any of the Ferraris or Red Bulls actually went on that day.

He put the Force India on the Baku podium in 2018 and he’s won here for Red Bull twice. The first of those victories (in 2021) was inherited after team-mate Max Verstappen’s tyre blew, but he’d been within a sniff of him all weekend. But the ’23 win was a straight flat-out battle with Verstappen in which Checo emerged on top. In 2022 he’d out-qualified Verstappen and led the race until a VSC after which his tyres were cooked and he had to give best to Verstappen but still followed him across the line to P2.

Imagine if there was only one grand prix a year and it was around this place. Perez would be considered one of the greats. His performances here are of that calibre. Here’s someone who after delivering podiums and front-row qualifying times for a midfield team, got his chance with Red Bull and went bat-to-bat with the incumbent Verstappen there for three years straight. After a year away he returned with a back-of-the-grid new team and showed mid-grid pace.

It’s all about rhythm for Perez. He’s not a driver who is forever interrogating his engineers, not someone who is looking for a super-precise place to put the car’s set-up window in. His style is quite straightforward, with very little of the brake/cornering overlap used by most of the really quick guys today, but he has a super-sensitive feel for the rear tyres. The confidence he has in controlling the car on exit with his right foot allows him to be bold yet precise on street tracks. Anywhere where the walls are up close – recall his phenomenal pole lap at Jeddah in 2022 or his immaculate victory at Singapore the same year – Perez is invariably formidably quick. But it really shows to spectacular effect around Baku. After following him all race in ’23 Verstappen commented that he learned things which he was later able to incorporate into his own driving.

The real elite drivers can deliver Perez-Baku-calibre performances at any track of course. It’s not that Checo is slow on more conventional tracks, but his peak performances are better by a big margin than his averages and they are all inevitably around street tracks.

In the rush of a grand prix weekend and the fight for victory it’s easy not to notice stand-out performances in the rough and tumble of the also-rans. But keep an eye on Checo this weekend, while remembering he is in one of the slowest cars on the track. He can do special things here.