The fourth race of the year confirmed what was seen in the first three races of the 2023 Formula 1 championship, namely a dominant Red Bull in terms of race pace. It was difficult to expect otherwise considering the strength shown by the RB19 in this early season. In the analysis of the race pace at the Baku City Circuit, what emerges is a Ferrari car apparently improving but with two sides.
On one hand, Charles Leclerc was able to manage his Pirelli tires well and finish third with a 21.2s gap from the winner Sergio Perez. On the other hand, Carlos Sainz was struggling. The Spaniard was 24s behind his Maranello teammate.
Race pace and lap averages in Baku
The analysis of the race pace considers the times recorded from the restart following the safety car. It is immediately noted that in the early stages, the Red Bull duo runs with lap times on average lower than one second compared to their competitors. Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen immediately pull away from the first pursuer, Charles Leclerc, and never compete with each other. The reigning World Champion tries to approach, but his teammate responds with the same lap times, never allowing the Dutchman to enter the DRS zone.
Behind them, the #16 Ferrari is engaged in a battle with Fernando Alonso. After overtaking Carlos Sainz, the Aston Martin man launched himself in pursuit of the Monegasque driver. Once caught up, the Ferrari driver extracts all the potential of the car, significantly lowering the lap times and putting a safety gap between himself and the #14. Only at the end of the Grand Prix, with fast laps, Fernando Alonso was able to gradually reduce the gap to Charles Leclerc again, proving that Aston Martin remains faster in terms of race pace.
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In the last stages of the 2023 Formula 1 Azerbaijan GP, the gaps between the two Red Bull cars and the first two pursuers decreased, although still in favor of the drivers from Milton Keynes.
Behind them there was the fight between Lewis Hamilton and the SF-23 of Carlos Sainz. The Englishman was in the DRS zone of the Spaniard for most of the laps, but never managed to launch an attack. The fastest Mercedes in Baku proved to be slower than the second Ferrari single-seater. This shows how, probably, in Maranello they are starting to extract the maximum potential from the SF23 while waiting for the updates that should arrive starting with the Miami Grand Prix, as confirmed by team principal Frederic Vasseur after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
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