Formula 1. Azerbaijan Grand Prix Prediction: Sergio Perez to enter top-3

Thanks to last weekend's victory, Perez has caught up with Leclerc and Verstappen in the individual standings. Can the Mexican once again pull off a miracle? What's the best bet? Let's find out!

Haste makes waste, that is the slogan of Sergio Perez. The racer won for the first time in eight stages, but he is catching up with the two leaders in the individual classification. He's six points behind Leclerc and 15 behind Verstappen. The secret of Perez's success is that in almost all Grand Prix he has shown a high level and occupied a place on the podium. If the Mexican wins the upcoming race for the second time in a row, there is a chance he will be first in the individual standings.

Since winning the Australian Grand Prix, Leclerc has been winless. The Monegasque has therefore squandered all his advantage, and is already in danger of slipping to third in the individual standings. Leclerc needs to pull himself together if he wants to get back into the race for the lead. Verstappen has nine points more, and in case of failure in Azerbaijan, Charles risks to remain without a chance of the championship.

The Red Bulls were victorious in Monaco alongside Sergio Perez. The Bulls have increased their lead over their main rival – Ferrari – thanks to this victory. At the moment the difference between the teams is 36 points. It seems the winner of the World Constructors' Championship is already decided, unless, of course, Red Bull racers will not start to show bad results.

Leclerc won the first two free practices. He did his fastest lap in 1:43.224, Sergio Perez was second, 0.248 behind the Monegasque, and Verstappen was third (+0.356).

"We had a confident first day, making progress in the second session – great teamwork. The lap times can't be considered representative, as nobody managed a clean fast lap in the second session. We still have some room to improve. Our pace looks strong and I feel comfortable in the car. Speaking of tires, there were no problems with granulation on the long series of laps, which is also a good sign."

Charles Leclerc

"I was just a bit unlucky with my soft tyre runs in FP1 and FP2. All the time, I caught a yellow flag so had to back out but overall, I think we looked quite decent both times. But it looks like Ferrari is quite quick over one lap again. On long runs, it looks a little more even – so that is positive. Overall, not a bad day. We just need to fine tune a few things. We've done enough laps to get an idea of what direction we want to go with the tires."

Max Verstappen

We will not risk picking the winner of the race, as there are too many contenders for this title. However, we will give our preference to Sergio Perez. The Mexican shows high results in the course of the season, plus the victory in the last weekend will give him confidence. In our opinion, the best bet is that Perez will cross the finish line in the top three for a relatively good odds. 

Prediction: Perez To Finish in Top-3 for 1.40.

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