Every race, every pole position, every lap led, every podium, and every race win matters in the world of Formula 1. The drivers walk around with these accomplishments all their lives. Why? Because the F1 grid is a disproportionate lineup. Not every driver gets to drive a car with a race-winning pedigree. For the first time in his career, Sergio Perez is driving a car that not only has made him a multiple race-winner but also has championship-winning capabilities. However, the ambitious Mexican will fight for even a podium and he is doing exactly that for Baku.

The Mexican still has ill feelings about one of the Azerbaijan GPs from the past. Perez feels he should’ve had another podium finish on the street circuit of Baku. Let’s see the reasoning behind Perez’s argument.

How many podiums does Sergio Perez have in Baku and why he believes he should have one more?

Perez wears a crown as the king of the street circuits for a reason. Perez has one of the best records on street circuits in the sport’s history. The Mexican has amassed a total of ten podiums on street circuits. Four in Baku, two in Monaco, and one each in Jeddah, Melbourne, Canada, and Singapore.

These incredible numbers on street circuits make Perez one of the best in the game and its history, especially in Baku. The newcomer, Azerbaijan GP, is yet to see a repeat winner. However, the track has seen one man on the podium more often than anyone in its history and that’s Perez.

Perez stood on the Baku podium twice for Force India and twice for Red Bull. Perez registered his first win on the track soon after switching his allegiance to the Milton Keynes-based outfit. These four podiums make Perez unique. “It’s a crazy number to believe I’ve got more podiums than any other driver here,” he confessed to Race Fans.

However, the Mexican isn’t satisfied with just four podiums in Baku as he revealed in the same conversation. He believes he should’ve stood atop the podium once more in 2017 while driving for Force India.

“We’ve been perfect for two years,” said Perez. “We should have three podiums here, unfortunately, we had a little contact between teammates and that ruined the chances for the team.”

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It’s easier to make mistakes on a street circuit compared to other tracks. This is exactly how Perez lost his fifth podium in Baku. The Mexican, unfortunately, made contact with his then-teammate Esteban Ocon which denied him the podium.

Despite that, Perez is definitely the king of Baku and the king of street circuits. To further prove this point, let’s compare street tracks vs race tracks.

A comparison of all Sergio Perez’s podiums in his F1 career

The 33-year-old is part of the premier class since 2011 and is one of the most experienced drivers on the current grid. This experience even helped his team and his teammate secure championships in consecutive years. Perez is also known as the master of street tracks because of his ten podiums on various street tracks.

Street tracks are notoriously known for difficult overtaking and no margin for error. Couple that with Perez’s incredible defense which earned him the second nickname, “minister of defense” and he is one of the best on the grid.

Perez has stood on the podium 28 times in his career so far. The ten street track podiums equate to 35% of his overall tally. Moreover, apart from the street tracks, Perez has secured multiple podiums only in Turkey, Bahrain, and his home GP.

This incredibly consistent record on street tracks definitely makes him a maestro. In fact, out of the five-race wins in his career, he has secured three of them on a street track. Azerbaijan, Monaco, and Singapore are the three.

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The majority of Perez’s podiums have come in the last three years, including the two in 2023. In fact, Perez’s season-high eleven podiums in 2022 were monumental in Red Bull winning their first constructors’ championship since 2013.

With a car capable of winning championships, we will surely see the Mexican stand on the podiums a few more times in the current season, pushing his overall tally further.

Whether that will be enough to make him a world champion is yet to be seen.