Max Verstappen edged out the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc to top a crucial and chaotic practice session at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of Qualifying which took place today in Baku. With the Baku City Circuit hosting Formula 1’s first Sprint weekend of the season – and the first in a new format for 2023, Max Verstappen’s 1:42.315 snatched first from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by just 0.037s, with the Dutchman’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez a further tenth back in third.
Friday’s opening 60-minute session, the only practice of the weekend under the new format, took on additional significance as teams and drivers attempted to prepare for Friday afternoon’s qualifying, Saturday’s Sprint qualifying and race, and Sunday’s Grand Prix.
A quick reminder that this qualifying session decided the grid for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
It is the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso that led the cars out as Q1 wass under way: everyone bar Nyck de Vries was out on track looking to get a banker lap in early. And all cars appeared to have the soft tyres bolted on. As Baku is a street circuit, it evolves a lot – the dust, dirt and oil gets cleared away and drivers get a bit of F1 rubber down.
There was plenty of swapping around at the top of the timesheet as the first laps got on the board: Max Verstappen led the way with a 1:41.887 with Charles Leclerc two tenths off the Red Bull. Fernando Alonso slot into thrid with his first effort. A few moments later, Nyck de Vries was out of qualifying! The Dutchman was in the wall at Turn Three. He took way too much speed into the corner, locked up and was straight into the barriers. A bit too much ambition there for the rookie, while Kevin Magnussen was reporting engine issues with his Haas again. The Dane saw his practice session curtailed by a fuel pump issue. The US-side told him over team radio that they don’t think the issue is as serious as the earlier one and hope they could try and fix it before Q1 is over.
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection! Click here to enter the F1 online Store and shop securely! And also get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!
The recovery of De Vries’ car took a bit longer than expected because the AlphaTauri car was wedged into the tecpro barrier. The outer layer of tecpro was dragged out onto the track as the marshals attempted to wheel the car back.
The session resumed at 14:24 BST. Nyck De Vries’ Alpha Tauri was therefore cleared for the track and we were back under way in this session, the pair of Williams’ leading the way.
But after just a few moments, Pierre Gasly wrecked the back of his Alpine as he hit the wall and the red flag was out again. It was already proving to be an expensive weekend for Alpine in Baku after the earlier fire damage too. In amongst all of that drama, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz had a close call as he spun at Turn One. That will have damaged his tyres without a time yet on the board.
Q1 the resumed and George Russell got himself away from the drop zone to go sixth with his latest flying lap, while Carlos Sainz also got himself out of the drop zone with his first timed lap to go ninth. Logan Sargeant was getting a really good tow from his team-mate Alex Albon and managed to post a 1:42.242, moving up to seventh. This secured him his first Q2 slot of the 2023 Formula One season. Right at the end of the session Charles Leclerc put in the fastest time of Q1: a 1:41.269 for the Ferrari driver to finish 0.129s ahead of Mx Verstappen. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo), Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Nyck De Vries (Alpha Tauri) were out in Q1.
It was now time for Q2 and more excitement! The cars were back out onto the track and it was going to be a difficult one to call out there, with strategy playing a majore role. Fernando Alonso set purple sector times through the first two sectors of his opening Q2 lap to open up with a 1:41.400. Sergio Perez then went quicker through the first two sectors and continued to improve: he set a 1:41.131 to go top of the timesheet. Max Verstappen was unable to beat his team-mate’s lap with his first Q2 effort. The Dutchman slots into second, six hundredths of a second back.
Then came the two Ferrari cars but Carlos Sainz pulled out of his flying lap and told his team over the radio that he was struggling with his tyres. Charles Leclerc was looking good out there though and went third. The Spaniard found a bit more grip on his next flying lap and put his Ferrari SF-23 car fifth, but didn’t have a great middle sector and was about three tenths off his team-mate Charles Lerclerc’s time. That lap put Lewis Hamilton as the driver at risk in 10th.
However, Lewis Hamilton improved on his last lap, while Carlos Sainz struggled again at Turn Three as his front tyres locked up and he bailed out early to avoid a crash. The drivers eliminated in Q2 were George Russell (Mercedes), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Alex Albon (Williams), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Logan Sargeant (Williams). Lewis Hamilton just scraped through in 10th, 0.004s ahead of his Mercedes team-mate, who lost a tenth in the final sector and that is what cost him.
Ahead of Q3 Max Verstappen was again the guy to beat but Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez had been challenging this afternoon at the Baku City Circuit. It was now time for Q3!
Lance Stroll and Oscar Piastri stayed in the garage for this first part of Q3 but the other eight drivers were all on track. Lando Norris was on a used set of soft tyres for his first effort after making it into Q3, everyone else was on shiny new tyres, while Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc set identical times on their opening laps of Q3! Both post 1:40.445. But it was Max Verstappen on provisional pole by posting his lap a few seconds before Charles Leclerc crossed the line. Sergio Perez was a tenth off in third with Carlos Sainz half a second off Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc in fourth.
It was the Red Bulls and the Ferraris that were leading the way so far, with Lewis Hamilton then behind in fifth and +0.732 off the pace.
Lance Stroll, who’s DRS was not working, went seventh fastest with his lap, out of sync with the rest of the Q3 drivers, as the final flying laps were about to begin. Charles Leclerc set his lap before Max Verstappen this time around.
And Charles Leclerc completed another amazing performance by taking pole position for Azerbaijan Grand Prix! The Monegasque posts a 1:40.203 and the Red Bulls can’t beat him! Max Verstappen was second, 0.188s behind the Ferrari driver. Sergio Perez is third a further tenth back. Red Bull’s run of pole positions to start 2023 is over.
Leave a Reply