KEY POINTS

  • Red Bull's Sergio Perez wins the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
  • Lewis Hamilton admits he can't get any closer to Perez as he tried to chase the Mexican
  • Hamilton explains what may have caused his defeat

Lewis Hamilton may have already predicted that he will not win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with still a few laps remaining in the race.

It was an intense Sunday afternoon at Baku as the biggest names in Formula One went head-to-head once again at the Azerbaijan GP.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez rallied his way into the finish line to win the race, while Hamilton was looking quite steady in second place.

However, the Mercedes talisman locked up at Turn 1 in the closing laps that put him out of contention.

Prior to his lock-up, Hamilton may have been aware that he’s up for a tough race as he was heard over the Mercedes team radio in lap 42 admitting, "I'm not getting any closer” while trying to chase Perez.

After the race, Hamilton lifted the lid on his terrible restart, which caused the red flag and his drop to 15th place.

According to the reigning champ, it was an unintentional brake error that started it all.

"Just on the restart, I think when Checo [Perez] moved over towards me, I clicked a switch and it basically switches the brakes off, and I just went straight," Hamilton explained. "I had no idea that I’d even touched it."

The Azerbaijan GP was Hamilton’s second underwhelming performance this season. As expected, the seven-time world champion assured to make a stunning comeback.

"So very hard to take, but mostly just really sorry to the men and women in the team who have worked so hard for these points, but we will regroup and come back stronger I’m sure,” the 36-year-old vowed.

"Obviously it’s quite a humbling experience, to be honest,” he added. “We’d worked so hard this weekend to come back out of the top 10 and it was looking so good. I put everything on the line and I fought as hard as I could today."

Lewis Hamilton tested positive for coronavirus just two days after winning the Bahrain Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton tested positive for coronavirus just two days after winning the Bahrain Grand Prix POOL / HAMAD I MOHAMMED

Perez, who claimed his first major win this season, admitted that it would have been much better if he and his teammate Max Verstappen finished at one-two.

After all, Perez is pleased to have won on a “fantastic day” at Baku.

“Normally Baku is pretty crazy,” Perez said. “I have to say sorry to Max [Verstappen], it would have been incredible to get that one-two for the team.”

“But at the end, it was a fantastic day for us,” he continued. “We were close to retiring the car but luckily we managed to finish the race. This is definitely a strong boost of confidence for myself.”

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