Sergio Perez once again overtook his world champion teammate Max Verstappen in the third and final training session before qualifying for the Azerbaijani Grand Prix on Saturday.
The Mexican, nominally number two in the Red Bull garage, is enjoying a golden moment in his career and persuaded his car through this complex street circuit to head the schedules before qualifying for the race. Sunday.
He won here in 2021 and in Monaco the last start Pérez made a fast lap of 1 min 43.170, with Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari at 0.070 sa drifting.
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Max Verstappen was again eclipsed. (Photo by Mark Thompson / Getty Images) Source: Getty Images
Verstappen complained furiously about the team’s radio after being stopped by traffic on his last roll of the third practice dice.
“He’s an amazing man, there are cars everywhere,” he murmured as he finished 0.279s away with Carlos Sainz’s other Ferrari (0.426) and Lando Norris ’McLaren (1.248) completing the top five.
In an encouraging rebound in fortune, Daniel Ricciardo, the 2017 winner in Azerbaijan, had his second McLaren sixth ahead of Pierre Gasly, enjoying the Alpha Tauri on the track where he took a podium last year .
On another difficult day for the Mercedes wrestler, George Russell finished eighth, but seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was only 12th.
Verstappen leads Leclerc by nine points in the race for the drivers’ title before this eighth round of the season, with Pérez just six points behind.
BAKPING BAKU CAUSES DRIVERS TO HEAD AS “POPOISING” RESPONSIBILITIES
Baku’s rugged street circuit has left drivers shaken by all the bounces they are subjected to this season’s radically redesigned cars.
The so-called “porpoise” problem has plagued teams like Mercedes more than most, with Lewis Hamilton saying he was “a little sore” after Friday’s two practice sessions.
“He’s bouncing a lot,” said the seven-time world champion after setting only the 12th fastest time behind Charles Leclerc.
Pierre Gasly, who enjoyed his two sessions at AlphaTauri, complained on the team’s radio: “The trip is quite shocking, I’ve never felt so touched.”
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz described the undesirable consequences of the new rules to promote a closer race as “very annoying around here”.
Hamilton’s teammate George Russell even suggested to the BBC that the problem was so deep that the rules required a rethink.
Lewis Hamilton was “a little sore.” (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP) Source: AFP
“I don’t think it’s right to run like that for the next four years or whatever.
“Conversations will be needed because everyone is on the same boat.” Toto Wolff, director of the Mercedes team, addressed the ‘porpoise’ at the pre-classification press conference on Saturday, saying: “Some cars don’t have the problem, others have it worse, I can speak for our two pilots sometimes have problems, not even a physiotherapist can fix it. ”
He said the two Silver Arrows were “all bad bottom” in certain areas of the track.
“We are losing a second on all straights to Ferrari and Red Bull.” – “It’s a challenge” –
His Ferrari counterpart Mattia Binotto said that while they had also experienced “rebounds and bottoms” in Friday’s practice, “it was not a limitation to our performance”.
Binotto did not accept Russell’s call for a 2022 change in car design.
“A Formula 1 car is not the most comfortable car to drive, it is a challenge for drivers without a doubt.
“I’m pretty sure we can move forward and find a solution in the medium to long term.” Haas chief Gunther Steiner insisted it was “a little early to think about doing something dramatic.”
“Right now we have to continue with this regulation, it generally doesn’t work badly,” he added.
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