The Sprint Shootout followed the same three-session knockout format as the usual qualifying we saw yesterday at the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan, but each Q1, Q2 and Q3 segment was shortened to address engine and tyre concerns.
SQ1 was shortened from 18 minutes to 12 minutes.
SQ2 was shortened from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.
SQ3 was shortened from 12 minutes to eight minutes.
The aim was that each car would only have one flying lap in each session, although two runs could be done in SQ1 while SQ2 and SQ3 would allow time for two timed laps without a pitstop in between attempts.
The other significant difference between the Sprint Shootout and regular qualifying was restrictions on tyre usage.
While teams were free to use any of their available tyres in regular qualifying, in the Sprint Shootout new sets of tyres were mandatory in each of the three parts, with medium compounds in SQ1 and SQ2 followed by a switch to softs in SQ3.
In essence, these changes were made to try and improve the entertainment and spectacle of the Sprint weekend. With the Sprint no longer setting the Grand Prix grid, the hope was that it would encourage the drivers to be more attacking and take more risks during the 100km event given an incident would not compromise them on Sunday. It also offered more meaning to Saturday morning. Under the old format, Saturday’s Practice Two session had essentially become redundant due to F1’s parc ferme rules – once cars leave the garage in qualifying on Friday, teams are unable to make any changes to their set-ups.
The drivers therefore needed to be immediately on it from the off this morning. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz said on Thursday he could resort to cold showers to make sure he is fully alert.
The Spaniard said: “(Saturday) will be difficult, especially waking up in the morning and going straight into SQ1. That will be like… I need to do a good warm up, maybe a cold shower, make sure I’m really woken up for pushing flat-out in one of these cars, bumpy cars on the straight first thing in the morning. I’ll make sure I do my morning routine well because it will be intense.”
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The green light was on at the end of the pit lane and the first segment of Sprint Shootout was go! This session was only 12 minutes long which meant that drivers needed to be perfect immediately. There was quite a queue in the pit lane the last couple of minutes before the start.
Max Verstappen led Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz very slowly out of the pit lane as the final three cars onto the circuit. For a future F1 pub quiz, Alex Albon had the honour of setting the first time in a F1 Sprint Shootout: it was a 1:45.472 for the Williams driver. His team-mate Logan Sargeant then beat that time by half a second. It appeared that Oscar Piastri stopped on the exit of turn three and double yellow flags were being waved. Lewis Hamilton went fastest with his opening lap with a 1:44.739, while those caught out by the yellow flag were having to do a second warm-up lap.
Four drivers then topped that early Hamilton marker. Charles Leclerc was now quickest with a 1: 43: 372 – that’s +0.191 ahead of Max Verstappen who is a second ahead of Carlos Sainz in third. Sergio Perez had the fourth quickest time ahead of Hamilton. Charles improved and remained top of the timesheet with a 1:42:820, while Verstappen was four tenths behind with Hamilton thirdand 0.7s off the leader.
With one minute to go there was huge damage for Logan Sargeant in the Williams as he smashed into the wall at turn 15. The session was therefore over and nobody was be able to improve their times: The red flag was thrown with 25 seconds remaining in SQ1 so drivers in the drop zone ( Zhou Guanyu, Valtteri Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly and Nyck de Vries) were unable to improve.
That shunt for Logan Sargeant delayed the start of SQ2 as his car was still being cleared away.
Sergio Perez opened the second phase of the Sprint Shootout with a 1:42.925 but Max Verstappen had purple sectors galore and did a 1:42.417, while Lewis Hamilton was seven tenths slower than Verstappen’s time with Russell a further second back. With six mins to go in SQ2, Nico Hulkenberg came to a stop at turn seven. That led to yellow flags being waved in the second sector: he avoided making contact with the barriers and got going again fairly quickly.
Charles Leclerc completed his fast lap but this time he couldn’t beat Max Verstappen’s time: the Ferrari driver was nearly four tenths off the Red Bull driver’s lap. The Austrian side felt Max Verstappen was safe and the Dutchman was back in the garage with the soft tyres for SQ3 being bolted on.
With one minute to go in SQ2, Carlos Sainz stopped at turn 15 – and yellow flags were waved, which could have lead to some issues for cars wanting to squeeze in a late flying lap. No damage thankfully and he was off and running again. Chequered flag out for SQ2 and the five drivers out were Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Logan Sargeant (Williams). Max Verstappen’s 1:42:417 was the quickest time in that session with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc just 0.83s slower. Carlos Sainz was third quickest from Sergio Perez in fourth. Fernando Alonso was fifth and gave Lance Stroll a late tow to get him in into SQ2 in eighth. The two Mercedes were sixth and seventh with Lewis Hamilton quicker than George Russell.
Red Bull were making sure they would have a clear run for SQ3: Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were immediately queuing at the end of the pit lane to make sure they were first out, as SQ3 was only eight minutes long! We had two Red Bulls, two Ferraris, two Mercedes, two Aston Martins and the Williams of Alex Albon competing for the top nine grid places in this afternoon’s Sprint. All of them were out on track straight away.
There was a big slide for Max Verstappen as he cames out of Turn Six, which cost him some time. He lost four tenths of a second to team-mate Sergio Perez in the second sector: the Mexican set a 1:41.876 and the Dutchman was three tenths slower as they cross the line.
But our Charles Leclerc was once again on top and showed his amazing abilities on a flying lap, even with the new and difficult conditions of the Sprint Shootout format! He set a 1:41.697 and was on provisional pole by 0.179s. All the drivers were doing very slow cool down laps as they bid to get one more flying lap in: Sergio Perez was controlling the pace at the front, much to the frustration of Lewis Hamilton.
He may have ended in the wall on his final lap, but the Red Bulls cannot beat Charles Leclerc! Sergio Perez was second, 0.147s behind the Ferrari. Max Verstappen is 0.290s back in third. Four poles in a row for the Monegasque n Baku! Carlos Sainz finished in P5, behind the Mercedes of George Russell.
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