Sergio Checo Pérez, the King of Formula 1 street circuits who once again demonstrated his mastery in Baku

Sergio Pérez

is the King of street circuits.

The Mexican, from

, gave an enormous performance in Baku and won the

, the fourth date of the

season .

, who started third and climbed to first place on the tenth lap, celebrated his sixth victory in the premier class of motor racing and his fifth on an urban track.

It was an ideal weekend for the man born in Guadalajara 33 years ago: on Saturday he had won the sprint race and, with this Sunday's victory, he got very close to his partner, Max Verstappen, in the fight for the

of pilots.

. 

The two-time Dutch champion, who temporarily held the lead in Baku, finished second and gave the Austrian team their third 1-2 victory of this 2023. Third finished was

, who had started first and could not keep up with the RB19, but He still celebrated because he scored

's first podium

in the championship.

"Well done!!!"

Pérez exclaimed seconds after crossing the finish line and becoming the first driver to achieve two victories in the Azerbaijani capital, where he had already won in 2021. "We dominated

"Things worked out for us. It was very close between me and Max. The times were very close. The way he pushed me, he pushed me, it was very hard, but I was able to keep it under control. We managed to manage the pressure to the maximum. And it was a great day," he analyzed shortly after getting out of the car.

The Mexican could not ask for a better victory, who led the test for almost 41 laps and, although during a good part of those laps he had Verstappen on his heels, he never really threatened first place.

The race started with Leclerc on pole - the Monegasque had been the fastest in qualifying on Friday - followed by the two Red Bulls.

Although Ferrari's ahead did not last long: on lap 4, Verstappen took advantage of the DRS and passed him before turn 1. Two laps later, the Dutchman already had the Mexican as escort, who had also managed to pass Leclerc. 

And a couple of laps later it was already clear that, barring some surprise or unforeseen event, it was going to be very difficult to get Verstappen and Pérez down.

," Leclerc himself later acknowledged.

Mad Max

settled in front and was lapping at a good pace, holding the lap record, but was hampered by the appearance of a

, after

'

came to a stop at Turn 6 of the Lap. lap 10. The Dutchman entered the pits to change tires (he had started, like the vast majority, with medium components) as soon as a yellow flag appeared and gave first place to Pérez.

, meanwhile, took the opportunity to stop just when the safety car entered the track.

Thus, the Mexican positioned himself first in the relaunch and his partner, third behind Leclerc.

After the resumption of the competition, Verstappen wasted no time and immediately overtook the Monegasque to fall behind Pérez again.

From then on, the two Red Bulls cut themselves off -the Ferrari one got further and further away until it was more than ten seconds behind- and they went stealing the lap record from each other.

But the Dutchman suffered from overheating tires and also had a problem with the balance between the differential and engine braking, which prevented him from maintaining consistency.

And he could never worry

too much , and when he saw him approaching, he sped up and ran away again.

"The entry of the safety car was a bit of bad luck

," reflected

 at the end of the day.

"I had to start pushing again and he had some problems with the car. The last ten laps were good, but it was too late. I think we have learned a lot of things. You can't be perfect all the time and the season is long. And of course, at the end of the day, a good result for the team", he concluded.

There were not many more emotions in a race that, being run on a circuit where even the slightest mistakes can be problematic, promised a lot of drama, but ended up being very calm.

The pressure -ultimately unsuccessful- by

on Leclerc to steal third place and get his fourth podium of the year.

's constant attempts

in the last fifteen laps to overtake

and finish fifth.

A couple of brushes of the Red Bull tires with the walls, without great consequences.

And the appearance in the final lap of

, who with fresh tires kept the lap record, improving the one Alonso had set just minutes before.

The Baku podium: Leclerc, Pérez and Verstappen.

Photo AP Photo/Sergei Grits

Nothing disturbed the calm gait of Pérez, who crossed the finish line more than two seconds ahead of Verstappen and heartily celebrated his sixth victory.

"You are the king of the streets," they told him over the radio from the Red Bull box.

And it is that the Mexican added his fifth victory in the category on this type of track: in addition to the one he had achieved in 2021 also in Baku, he has in his record those of Monaco and Singapore in 2022 and that of

Arabia

in

second date of this 2023. The only one he held on a traditional circuit was the first of his career in F1, when he won the

2020

, the only edition of that test, which entered the calendar in a season altered by the pandemic .

The title fight, getting hotter

With this Sunday's victory, plus the points he had added on Saturday by winning the sprint, Checo reached 87 and was only six behind Verstappen, who leads with 93. Alonso appears behind him, with 60;

Hamilton, with 48;

and the Ferraris of Sainz (34) and Leclerc (28).

In the constructors' championship, on the other hand, Red Bull took a huge lead.

Thanks to the four victories of the year (two for each of its pilots) and their three 1-2;

Accumulate 180 units.

Second is

Aston Martin

with 87;

third Mercedes, with 76;

and fourth, Ferrari, with 62.

The next race will be the

, which will take place next Sunday on the track built around

, home of the

NFL's

A new street circuit and a new opportunity for Pérez to extend his reign on this type of track.

Will the Mexican celebrate again?