2023 Azerbaijan GP race report: Perez has all the answers in 'intense' battle for win

“And then of course we made the call to pit. I saw that there was a car stopped, I thought he maybe just locked up. In hindsight, I can’t see that, but it’s something to review. Clearly you could see there was one wheel damaged, and it looked like he was not going to drive that anyway back to the pits, even if he would have reversed. So it’s something to look at, because that then did hurt my race after that.”

The interruption made for a busy pit lane, as Ferrari and Aston Martin double-stacked their cars. To try and buy some time for Alonso’s pitstop to be completed, Stroll was slow in the pit entry and Russell overtook him down the inside, with the stewards noting the incident but taking no further action.

In the end, Russell punished himself, with the Mercedes driver apologising to his team for a “s*** restart” that saw him lose out to Stroll and Hamilton on consecutive laps to drop from sixth to eighth.

The opposite was true of Alonso, who pulled a typically clever and decisive move on Sainz to take fourth into Turn 4 when racing resumed on lap 14, while Verstappen similarly cleared Leclerc instantly and set off after Perez. But just like in Saudi Arabia earlier this season, the Mexican had all the answers he needed.

For lap after lap they traded fastest times, and it was clear the pair were pushing each other hard as there were regular brushes with the walls. But Verstappen could not get within a second of Perez to make use of DRS, and in the closing stages it was Saturday’s winner of the sprint who started to ease away from his more celebrated team-mate.

“It was very intense,” Perez said. “The first stint was super intense between just making sure I stayed in that DRS, and then once I was in the DRS, just pushing Max to make sure he used his tyres. I think that was one of the keys.

“But then once we were on the hard compound, it was really hard to keep Max behind, because I knew that as soon as he would get DRS, that’s it really. So just to keep him behind with the DRS was a massive challenge, and we were pushing each other massively. We really gave it all, lap after lap. I’m really happy to come away with this victory.”

Leclerc and Alonso fell 19 seconds adrift but there was perhaps a greater level of tyre saving going on behind the Red Bulls, with the majority of the field committing to run to the end around the halfway mark.

That decision was reinforced by both Ocon and Hülkenberg running in ninth and tenth respectively after the safety car and running the full race on one set of hards, waiting for something to happen. In largely untypical Baku fashion, it didn’t. Not on the track, anyway.

In the pitlane was another matter, as the biggest moment of drama came when Ocon came into the pits to make his mandatory stop at the end of the final lap. The Frenchman was faced with the terrifying scenario of a pit lane full of personnel and photographers getting ready for parc fermé and the podium, with multiple people leaping out of his way at the pit entry.

“Not something that we want to see,” Ocon said. “I don’t understand why we’re starting to prep the podium and prep the ceremony while we’re still racing. There’s one lap to go, there’s still people that didn’t pit, I guess Nico didn’t pit as well at the time.

“I’m arriving at 300 km/h [185mph], I’m braking very late, and I see the [barriers] I see the people around. This is crazy. It could have been a big, big one today. And it’s definitely something that needs to be discussed. It’s something that we don’t want to see.

“I had to lift off, I had to back off. I would not have liked to be the one in the middle there, at the speed we are arriving there, especially so close to the line. If I missed the braking point, it’s a big disaster.”

After Verstappen v Russell on Saturday, Ocon’s pit stop proved to be the most controversial moment of the day as the stewards summoned FIA representatives to explain the situation. And that says pretty much everything about the amount of action that unfolded.

But it was still a weekend that showed Ferrari really does have the raw pace Fred Vasseur has insisted is in the car, and Red Bull’s dominant start has not been with the type of advantage others have enjoyed at times in F1’s history. Leclerc was able to hold off a closing Alonso in the final stages, while Sainz kept Hamilton at bay for fifth.

And Baku was also another example of Perez’s ability to take the fight to Verstappen at Red Bull when he feels comfortable, something he appears to be managing with increasing regularity. The two wins saw him cut Verstappen’s championship lead to six points, with Russell pitting for soft tyres from eighth place – ahead of Norris and Yuki Tsunoda – late on to snatch the point for fastest lap.

Far from a classic, but one where late-race pace from Leclerc and Alonso showed Red Bull doesn’t have it all its own way, and Perez took full advantage of his chances. For that, perhaps there’s hope of even closer battles as the season rapidly picks up pace from here. And at least there’s not long to wait for the next one.