Sergio Perez cruises to victory in Azerbaijan sprint race

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez has cruised to victory in the Azerbaijan Sprint race.

With qualifying taking place on Friday, a new rapid-fire qualifying session was held on Saturday morning for the 17-lap sprint race where Charles Leclerc claimed pole for the second time in less than 24 hours.

However, the Ferrari driver was unable to convert that first place into a win, Perez overtaking him after a safety car delay before cantering to the maximum eight points.

Teammate and Championship leader Max Verstappen completed the podium places, despite having been passed by Mercedes' George Russell in a first-lap manoeuvre where there was contact between their respective cars.

The damage on Max's car is huge 😮

Remarkable he was able to finish in P3 👏#AzerbaijanGP #F1Sprint pic.twitter.com/bwL3oEwZXh

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 29, 2023

Verstappen had called for Russell to be punished for the incident, and the Dutchman remonstrated with Russell when the pair left their cars at the end of the race.

Russell had little problem in holding onto fourth spot ahead of Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso.

Lewis Hamilton had to make do with seventh place in the other Mercedes, with Aston Martin's Lance Stroll completing the points positions.

Ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix, Perez now trails leader Verstappen in the standings by 13 points, while Alonso is nine points ahead of Hamilton in third position.