Red Bull driver Sergio Perez of Mexico celebrates on the podium after winning the Formula One Grand Prix at the Baku Formula One city circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan on June 6, 2021. (MAXIM SHEMETOV / POOL VIA AP)

BAKU - Sergio Perez of Red Bull Racing won the Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix here on Sunday, claiming his second career victory.

Perez finished first after his teammate Max Verstappen, who dominated the race for the majority of the 51 laps, crashed with a tire failure with just four laps to go.

Having taken the lead from Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton after the first round of pitstops on lap 14, Verstappen had been set for a comfortable win until his left-rear tire blew spectacularly on the start-finish straight on lap 47 of 51.

The debris from Verstappen's crash caused the race to be red-flagged on lap 49 while the track was cleared, paving the way for a standing restart and a two-lap dash to the finish.

We were lucky to finish the race and it was quite difficult to get to the end. (Lewis Hamilton) had very strong pace throughout the race, he pushed me every lap onwards from the pit stop.

Sergio Perez, Mexican racing driver in Formula One for Red Bull Racing

At the restart, Hamilton seemed to edge ahead of Perez, but the Briton crucially misjudged his braking point and missed the first corner entirely, dropping him to the back of the field and out of contention for points.

Following Hamilton's mishap, Perez was able to see out the remaining two laps of the race to take his first win since moving to Red Bull this year - despite being told by his team to park his RB16B just after the finish with an apparent mechanical issue.

"I'm so happy for today. Normally Baku is pretty crazy and it would have been good for the team to get a 1-2 but the win is a fantastic result," said Perez, who is the first driver other than Verstappen to win a race for Red Bull since Daniel Ricciardo took victory at the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix.

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"We were lucky to finish the race and it was quite difficult to get to the end. [Hamilton] had very strong pace throughout the race, he pushed me every lap onwards from the pit stop."

"At the restart, I had a poor getaway and Hamilton got alongside me but I made the car as wide as possible and he didn't make the corner."

"This is definitely a strong boost of confidence for myself and the team."

Behind Perez, four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of Aston Martin overtook several cars with his strategy to run long into the race before pitting, and the German was rewarded with a fine second place for Aston Martin's first-ever podium finish, followed by Pierre Gasly of Alpha Tauri.

Hamilton, seven-time world champion, finished 15th after his Mercedes slid off the track after the restart of the race.

This year's race, fifth in Azerbaijan's Formula One history, was staged behind closed doors because of the coronavirus pandemic.

READ MORE: Perez says a sabbatical from F1 is an option for 2021

The first Grand Prix in Baku was held in 2016 as the European Grand Prix. Last year the event was canceled due to COVID-19.