Hakkinen: Verstappen has Perez to thank for Baku win

Mika Hakkinen believes the role of Sergio Perez in Max Verstappen’s Azerbaijan victory should not be underplayed.

The Finn thinks Perez’s acceptance of the Red Bull team’s strategy, combined with a longer pit-stop, enabled his team-mate to extend his advantage.

Perez suffered an uncharacteristic five-second stop in Red Bull’s pit box when he came in after his team-mate had already taken the lead in Baku, suffering from tyre degradation not usually associated with the Mexican.

Perez had taken the lead of the race himself at the start, jumping ahead of Charles Leclerc at Turn 1, but Verstappen passed him and ultimately went on to take a comfortable win.

Hakkinen, the two-time former World Champion, feels Perez’s form is showing how vital he is at Red Bull, and how his longer stop ended up inadvertently gifting Verstappen an extension of his lead at the front which he ultimately did not relinquish.

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Drivers' standings after Australia:

Leclerc: 71 points

Verstappen: 25

After Baku:

Verstappen: 150

Leclerc: 116

That adds up to an 80-point swing between them in just five races #F1 pic.twitter.com/vVOKh6ixKk

— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) June 13, 2022

“Checo is doing a really fantastic job of supporting Max at Red Bull,” Hakkinen wrote in his blog for Unibet. “After his win in Monaco he came to Baku and was quickest in two of the practice sessions, and ahead of Max in all of them.

“To then qualify second behind Charles and take the lead at the