Baku double fires Perez into the F1 title picture

Sergio Perez believes he can take the title fight to Red Bull Racing team-mate Max Verstappen after doing the sprint and Grand Prix double in Azerbaijan.

The Mexican reduced the gap to five points over the Dutchman, who cut a sombre figure after looking unable to match the pace of his team-mate during the races.

Perez, who missed out on second place in the championship last season in the final race, has now won two of the four races this season, with Verstappen claiming the other two, and believes he can go toe-to-toe with his team-mate for the crown this season.

“I am definitely in the fight for the title,” he said. “Not just because of Baku, I believe I can be very good anywhere this season and now I am just thinking of Miami. There are a lot of races coming up and we must make sure we are on it.

“I think today we were the fastest car on track and regardless of the safety car we would have won the race.”

The world champion’s pace during Saturday’s sprint race was impacted by a first-lap crash with George Russell’s Mercedes - which sparked an altercation between the pair after the chequered flag - but after losing the lead under the safety car to Perez, was unable to bridge the gap to mount a challenge for the lead.

To add to his disappointment, Verstappen lost the fastest lap bonus point to Russell on the final lap too.

He said: “Overall it was quite a good race. Of course, I was a bit unlucky with the safety car call, but I think in that second stint both of us were pushing flat out. We used every centimetre on that track and touched a few walls!

“It was a good team result and there were a lot of learnings from this weekend to take forward to the rest of the season.

“We bought it home and a 1-2 for the team was ideal, Checo had a great race and did very well today.

“I’m already looking forward to Miami and seeing what we can do there.”