To face the 17 laps of the Baku Grand Prix Sprint Race, almost all drivers chose to start with medium tires. The red tires selected by Lando Norris, Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Ocon did not prove to be much more performant, and degradation was very high. In the first corners after the start, a contact between George Russell and Max Verstappen causes an evident opening on the Dutchman’s side and damages to the floor of his Red Bull RB19 single-seater. Shortly after, Tsunoda lost a tire after contact with the wall, triggering first a Virtual Safety Car and then a Safety Car to allow the marshals to clean the track from debris.
The race resumed after five laps, with Charles Leclerc still in the lead. A few laps later, however, the superiority of Red Bull on the straights and with DRS open allowed the Mexican driver to take the lead. The Sprint Race ended with Sergio Perez in first place, followed by Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. George Russell and Carlos Sainz also performed well, finishing in fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
Race Pace Analysis
Analyzing the race pace of the first six drivers that crossed the finish line, we see how the pace of the two Red Bull cars is very similar in the first laps after the restart. Sergio Perez, however, manages to maintain a very low and constant pace throughout the race, especially after overtaking the Monegasque driver of Scuderia Ferrari when he has a clear road ahead. After the overtaking suffered, Charles Leclerc raises the pace a bit, opting for a defensive strategy against Max Verstappen, looking over his shoulder for the rest of the race. George Russell, Carlos Sainz, and Fernando Alonso have a higherbetter pace than the first three but very similar to each other.
Average Pace Analysis
Now let’s see the average pace of the fastest driver of each team. The best average pace was set by Sergio Perez, with an average of 1:44.267. Then we have Charles Leclerc with 1:44.670 and George Russell with 1:44.959. Fernando Alonso was almost a second slower than the Mexican driver of Red Bull, with 1:45.138. In the midfield, we find the Williams of Albon (1:45.950), the McLaren of Piastri (1:46.006), and the Haas of Magnussen (1:46.354). At the bottom of the group, we have the Alfa Romeo of Zhou (1:46.863), the Alpine of Gasly (1:47.052), and the AlphaTauri of De Vries (1:47.424).
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Today, the starting grid will see Charles Leclerc start again from pole position. In second and third place, respectively, we have the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Will the Monegasque driver manage to keep the Red Bull cars behind him this time, or will the extraordinary efficiency of the Milton Keynes cars on the straights with DRS open bring them back to the highest steps of the podium?
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