Sergio Perez wins F1 sprint in Baku, Verstappen confronts Russell

BAKU: Max Verstappen confronted George Russell in the pit lane following a collision as his teammate Sergio Pérez won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix sprint race on Saturday. Red Bull remains the team to beat in Formula One, with Pérez first and Verstappen third in the sprint, but Verstappen was unhappy after Russell left a hole in his car’s sidepod in the collision, hampering Verstappen’s chances of taking second from Charles Leclerc of resurgent Ferrari. Verstappen walked up to Mercedes driver Russell in the pit lane and seemed to suggest he would be similarly uncompromising when racing Russell in future following the first-lap collision.

“Mate, we all have no grip, we all need to leave a little bit of space,” Verstappen told Russell, who said his car lacked grip and locked up a tire. “Then expect next time the same, you know,” Verstappen added as Russell walked away, and appeared to aim an expletive at the British driver. Verstappen lost third place in the incident, but recovered it later at a safety car restart.

Russell told British broadcaster Sky Sports he believed he had the right to pressure Verstappen for the position because he was on the inside of the corner and said he was surprised the Red Bull driver tried to hold on while on the outside. Leclerc started on pole — as he will for the grand prix on Sunday — but was overtaken by Perez just before the halfway point of the 17-lap sprint on the long seafront straight. The Mexican driver cruised to the win, which cuts his deficit to leader Verstappen in the standings by two points to 13.