You do not fluke Baku. You survive it. Sergio Pérez does more than that. He milks time from the city’s hard edges and carries it all the way down that endless boulevard.
The secret is not one trick, it is a rhythm built on clean exits, a rear end that behaves, and a driver who refuses to panic in 90-degree corners.
Red Bull’s RB19 made that song louder in 2023 with a monster DRS effect that stretched gaps like taffy on the main straight.
Mark Hughes broke down how Red Bull generated bigger top-speed gains with the flap open, and Baku’s flat-out blast from Turn 16 rewards exactly that.
Baku: time from exits, time from air
In Baku’s middle sector Pérez is clinical through the stop-start lefts and rights, then greedy on throttle at Turns 13 to 15. That combo sets him up to launch early from 16 and bank time all the way to Turn 1.
Autosport’s GPS readouts underlined the pattern in 2023, noting how Ferrari’s sector-two sparkle dulled while Pérez won the acceleration contests toward the line.
The other lever is Red Bull’s drag-reduction magic. Baku magnifies whatever DRS edge you have, and Red Bull’s package delivered the largest open-flap benefit in the field. Pérez, smoother on exits than most, arrives in clean air with just enough rear grip to open the taps sooner. That is free lap time multiplied over a kilometer of full throttle.
When the race turns, he keeps his head. In 2023 the safety-car timing flipped track position, and Pérez never handed it back.
Race analysis from the weekend made it plain: once Checo controlled the stint lengths and rejoined ahead, the street master stayed there.
Monaco: patience in the potholes, profit at the exits
Monaco is not about bravery, it is about self-control. Pérez’s style leans into balance in the slow stuff, which buys him precious meters out of Mirabeau, the Hairpin, and especially Portier.
The more neutral the car, the earlier he can straighten the wheel and add throttle without lighting the rears. That is his money move, and it shows up in the micro-splits before the Tunnel and again building from Rascasse to Antony Noghès.
His 2022 victory owed plenty to Red Bull’s undercut and Ferrari’s scramble, but the strategy only bites if the driver hits the in- and out-laps cold and perfect. Pérez did, threading traffic while keeping the rears alive, which let the pit wall spring the trap.
Hughes detailed exactly how the call wrong-footed Ferrari once Checo produced the laps to make it stick.
Yes, Monaco will always remember the Portier shunt that ignited winter drama, and multiple dives into onboard and data argued against any conspiracy theories. Strip away the noise and you get something simpler.
Pérez is at his best here when he resists the urge to chase hero speed in the Swimming Pool and instead cashes out on exits where the stopwatch actually pays.
Put both tracks side by side and the picture is clear. In Baku, the gains come from disciplined rotation in the 90s and a car that turns DRS into a slingshot. In Monaco, it is the monk-like patience to wait half a heartbeat, square the car, and fire it straight.
Two street circuits, two personalities, one driver who understands how to make walls work for him.
