Which Formula 1 driver made the most of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend?
It’s time to give your verdict on which driver did the best with the equipment at their disposal over the last three days.
Review how each driver got on below and vote for who impressed you the most at Baku City Circuit.
Driver performance summary
| Driver | Q stage | Q position | Q gap to team mate | SR grid position | SR result | GP grid position | GP result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Verstappen | Q3 | 2 | -0.104s | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Sergio Perez | Q3 | 3 | +0.104s | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Charles Leclerc | Q3 | 1 | -0.813s | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | Q3 | 4 | +0.813s | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Q3 | 5 | -0.004s | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 |
| George Russell | Q2 | 11 | +0.004s | 4 | 4 | 11 | 8 |
| Esteban Ocon | Q2 | 12 | -2.231s | 19 | 18 | 19 | 15 |
| Pierre Gasly | Q1 | 19 | +2.231s | 17 | 13 | 17 | 14 |
| Lando Norris | Q3 | 7 | -0.330s | 10 | 17 | 7 | 9 |
| Oscar Piastri | Q3 | 10 | +0.330s | 11 | 10 | 10 | 11 |
| Valtteri Bottas | Q2 | 14 | -0.060s | 15 | 16 | 13 | 18 |
| Zhou Guanyu | Q1 | 16 | +0.060s | 14 | 12 | 15 | Not classified |
| Lance Stroll | Q2 | 9 | +0.358s | 9 | 8 | 9 | 7 |
| Fernando Alonso | Q3 | 6 | -0.358s | 8 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| Kevin Magnussen | Q1 | 18 | +0.662s | 13 | 11 | 16 | 13 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Q1 | 17 | -0.662s | 12 | 15 | 20 | 17 |
| Nyck de Vries | Q1 | 20 | +3.048s | 18 | 14 | 18 | Not classified |
| Yuki Tsunoda | Q2 | 8 | -3.048s | 16 | Not classified | 8 | 10 |
| Alexander Albon | Q2 | 13 | -0.577s | 7 | 9 | 12 | 12 |
| Logan Sargeant | Q1 | 15 | +0.577s | 14 | 16 |
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Vote for your driver of the weekend
Which driver do you think did the best job throughout the race weekend?
Who got the most out of their car in qualifying and the race? Who put their team mate in the shade?
Cast your vote below and explain why you chose the driver you picked in the comments.
Vote for your 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend
- No opinion (2%)
- Logan Sargeant (0%)
- Alexander Albon (1%)
- Yuki Tsunoda (2%)
- Nyck de Vries (1%)
- Kevin Magnussen (0%)
- Nico Hulkenberg (0%)
- Fernando Alonso (16%)
- Lance Stroll (0%)
- Guanyu Zhou (0%)
- Valtteri Bottas (0%)
- Oscar Piastri (1%)
- Lando Norris (0%)
- Pierre Gasly (0%)
- Esteban Ocon (1%)
- George Russell (0%)
- Lewis Hamilton (5%)
- Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
- Charles Leclerc (21%)
- Sergio Perez (52%)
- Max Verstappen (0%)
Total Voters: 132
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When this poll is closed the result will be displayed instead of the voting form.
2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
- Aston Martin radio messages reveal how “older brother” Alonso helps Stroll
- How slashing practice to a single hour in Baku tripped up F1 teams
- Bottas: “Rapid improvement needed” at Alfa Romeo
- Red Bull could become first team to score 1,000 points in a season
- Aston Martin hoping DRS fix works in Miami after Stroll manages fault in race
Debates and polls
- Will Alonso win a world championship title with Aston Martin?
- How long should Red Bull give Ricciardo to prove he’s not lost his touch?
- Were stewards right to penalise Alonso over his driving before Russell’s crash?
- Are Williams right to bench Sargeant so Albon can race after crash?
- Is the FIA right to make ten seconds the new standard for penalties?
Jere (@jerejj)
30th April 2023, 13:47
Checo is a relatively easy choice.
GeeMac (@geemac)
1st May 2023, 10:04
He did get outqualified by his teammate (for the race anyway) though.
Todfod (@todfod)
1st May 2023, 12:59
How? He was outqualified by his teammate and in P2 during the race… only to benefit from a safety car period. He couldn’t match Leclerc in saturdays sprint quali either and only got by because of the incredible DRS advantage of his Red Bull.
Pinak Ghosh (@pinakghosh)
30th April 2023, 14:00
The vote is for the driver of the weekend. And I voted for Leclerc. To put the car on pole twice against Red Bulls is not easy. The problem in the race(s) this weekend is clearly with with the car and not the driver.
BasCB (@bascb)
30th April 2023, 21:39
Charles certainly did get the most out of the car there was available the whole weekend. Lovely qualifying laps, solid race pace and good thinking with keeping the tyres alive as well.
Certainly one of the most deserving of this vote, yeah.
GeeMac (@geemac)
1st May 2023, 10:06
Indeed, he maximised the equipment at his disposal and made Sainz look a bit silly. He got my vote too.
That said most will probably vote Perez because he put in a great drive in the race.
Todfod (@todfod)
1st May 2023, 13:02
@pinakghosh
Agree completely. I voted for Leclerc as well. He put in an absolutely ridiculous lap on Friday and as well as on Saturday. He would won the Sunday race with ease if it wasn’t for the DRS and tyre disadvantage and Ferrari has as compared to Red Bull. He was the only driver to outperform his machinery the entire weekend. It was ridiculous how he was literally a second a lap faster than Sainz during quali and at least 0.5s a lap faster than him on raceday.
Jack
30th April 2023, 14:01
Ocon for not knocking all those people over like skittles.
elchinero (@elchinero)
30th April 2023, 14:18
Hahahah. Voted for the Safety car pilot ..
BasCB (@bascb)
30th April 2023, 21:41
Good point there Jack. Yeah, we can all be super happy he reacted quick enough to avoid hitting anyone in that big crowd. What is the FIA thinking setting up that jumble of photographers before the race is actually over.
Yes (@come-on-kubica)
30th April 2023, 14:02
Leclerc did as much as he could in all sessions and made sainz look woeful.
Patrick (@anunaki)
30th April 2023, 14:33
Leclerc
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
30th April 2023, 15:00
When looking at both races this weekend, it’s easily Checo. Honorable mentions to Leclerc and Alonso, but Perez easily had the upper hand on Max in two races and one quali this weekend.
David BR (@david-br)
30th April 2023, 15:18
Leclerc for the weekend. Two great poles where he had to push and really did nowt wrong in the race, simply a victim of the Red Bull ‘press-and-pass’ DRS button.
Checo, no. Didn’t outqualify Verstappen and lucked into first in a two-car race. However, a Verstappen incident next race and the championship battle could become mildly interesting for a few races.
MichaelN
30th April 2023, 15:24
Leclerc. Beat both the Red Bulls whenever he could, and made Sainz look average once more.
With Red Bull a guaranteed 1-2 in the races, all Pérez had to do was sit around and wait for Russell to bump into Verstappen in the Mini Race, and Verstappen to get done in by Wittich in the Big Race. Solid, sure, but not all that great.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
30th April 2023, 16:12
Yeah, I was thinking of how the Sprint Race and Shootout make it look so much worse for drivers in qualifying especially if you’re beaten consistently in 6 qualifying sessions over 2 days. It’s like a mini-season…
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
30th April 2023, 15:56
I gave it to Lewis because he should have gotten a $10 million bonus from Azerbaijan for keeping the race interesting even though it was clear that both Aston Martin and Ferrari were impossible to overtake.
Ronald (@mosquito)
30th April 2023, 16:52
Easy choice, Perez fastest on track and no other standout performance.
My only doubt is if Leclerc deserves an honourable mention, or that Sainz just fell apart this weekend. Very big difference in racepace.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
30th April 2023, 22:58
Absolutely leclerc, he maximised ferrari’s potential all weekend, like someone else said, putting the car on pole vs 2 red bulls isn’t easy and there was no way to defend more than this, he also kept a damaged verstappen behind, he was still fast enough to close within less than 1 sec in the sprint.
Perez ofc did well, he’s much closer to verstappen than I’d have thought this season.
Alonso always entertaining, I didn’t think he’d have been on leclerc’s tail at the last lap and he was competing with verstappen for fastest lap till the end, like half a tenth difference, until russell demolished their laps with new softs.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
1st May 2023, 0:44
Went for Checo. Good efforts by Alonso and Leclerc.
Ferrari really need to make sure they are managing Charles as their no. 1 driver. So much better than Sainz.
Todfod (@todfod)
1st May 2023, 14:53
I’m hoping a part of the ‘restructuring’ at Ferrari involves Sainz being demoted to a support driver. People often talk about the pace difference between Max and Perez, but no one discusses that in the last 25 odd races, Sainz has probably been quicker than Leclerc on 3 to 4 occasions at the maximum.
Moi
1st May 2023, 11:02
Leclerc. Could not have done any better in any session than he did, truly maximised.
NS Biker (@rekibsn)
1st May 2023, 21:21
George Russel snagged the Fastest Lap and the point that goes with it.
Just wondering if he will be so keen to repeat the One-point Special, knowing that he will have to cough up another 2,100 Euros for his F1 License for next year.
Prior to issuing a point for FLAP, it was primarily of interest to the drivers and was a reflection of who was fastest in race trim. No points and no $$$, just bragging rights.
Now we have teams juggling strategy to either get the point or to prevent another competing team getting the point.
With the FLAP typically the result of an end of race soft-tyre glory lap, it has lost all of it’s glamour for the drivers and for the spectators.
Time to end the fiasco. It’s day has come and gone.