30 April 2023 , 14:54
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Max Verstappen admitted it was "painful" to lose out on victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix because of a poorly-timed safety car.
The Dutchman took the lead from pole-sitter Charles Leclerc early on and looked well placed to turn that into a third victory of the season. But fate had other ideas, and Verstappen pitted moments before the safety car was called out when Nyck de Vries stopped on track.
That meant Sergio Perez and Leclerc got a cheap stop and moved back ahead of the defending champion. Verstappen made light work of overtaking the Ferrari again, but found his team-mate more difficult to reel in.
Perez did an excellent job of keeping Verstappen arm's length, using his street circuit prowess and excellent tyre management skills to maintain the gap and win the race. Red Bull completed the one-two finish with the Dutchman in second, with Leclerc third.
As usual, the three podium finishers met in the cool down room while waiting for the post-race ceremony. Their discussion was caught on camera and broadcast on Sky Sports, with Verstappen and Leclerc the first to arrive and begin talking.
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"You were pushing flat-out?" asked the Monegasque as they watched highlights of the race. Verstappen replied: "We were quite close but when you're following close, it's really tough. At one point it opened up a bit..."
Sergio Perez won the race with Max Verstappen second (HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)Perez then entered the room, an commented on how devoid of incident the race was. "Not much action out there?" he asked, before Leclerc declared in reply: "For me, it was the loneliest race ever. Fernando [Alonso] was coming back at the end – I think he finished six-tenths behind me."
The Mexican then turned to his team-mate as the TV showed Verstappen's poorly-timed pit stop and said: "You were unlucky there." The reply from the championship leader was: "It was a bit painful but it happens. Sometimes. You had it last year in Jeddah."
Alonso finished fourth after failing to move past Leclerc, while Carlos Sainz held off Lewis Hamilton to finish fifth. The top 10 was rounded off by Lance Stroll, George Russell, Lando Norris and Yuki Tsunoda.