For the first time since the Indianapolis 500 was last contested as a round of the Formula 1 world championship, back in 1960, starting grid for a grand prix is official well over 24 hours before the race itself begins.
The heavily compacted sprint weekend schedule means that the grid for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has been set after a combined 105 minutes of track time – at least 20 of which were wasted under red flag conditions in the opening practice session. But before drivers take to the grid spots on Sunday that they’ve earned on Friday, there’s the Saturday sprint race sideshow for them all to enjoy first.Heading into the fourth round of a 2023 season where Red Bull have almost been at liberty to turn up and simply cruise to victory, they head into an evening during a race weekend after being beaten in a competitive session for the first time this season. And it’s fair to say that the result was unexpected – not least of which by Ferrari.
“It’s a really big surprise for me – for the whole team, I think,” pole winner Charles Leclerc admitted after the session. “Coming here, we did not expect that. So it’s amazing to be starting on pole for Sunday’s race.
But one person who was not shocked to see Leclerc secure his third consecutive pole position in Baku was the man who will start alongside him on the front row of Sunday’s grid – championship leader Max Verstappen.
“Not really [surprised] by Charles,” Verstappen said. “We know that he’s been really good around here. Otherwise you don’t get three poles in a row, right?”
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The reality is Leclerc was in contention with the Red Bulls from the opening practice session. He matched them for pace early on the hard tyres despite the Red Bulls setting their early laps on the mediums, before splitting both on softs at the end of the session.
Ferrari had worked extremely hard over the winter on unlocking more straight-line speed from their new car for 2023 – a target they appeared to achieve at the start of the season when they were far closer to the Red Bulls in the speed traps. In Baku, the low-drag quality of the new Ferrari was on display again.
In practice, Leclerc exited turn 16 to enter the long back straight on his fastest lap around a tenth-and-a-half behind Verstappen on the stopwatch. Over the length of the straight, he ate into that margin, pulling ahead of Verstappen by the time he rounded the turn 19 kink with a top speed around 3kph higher than Verstappen’s. But despite being behind the Ferrari on track, Verstappen managed to claw back that time loss in the final kilometre with the help of Red Bull’s ultimate weapon – their super efficient Drag Reduction System.
In 13 seasons of DRS being active in Formula 1, it could well be that the RB19 possesses the most powerful version of the device ever designed. Both Leclerc and Verstappen gained 15kph by pressing their DRS button at the end of the straight, but the greater acceleration Verstappen enjoyed is what ultimately saw him cross the line sooner than Leclerc in practice.
That DRS advantage will be very helpful to Red Bull’s cause on Sunday, despite the main zone being trimmed by 100 metres. They might not even need it in tomorrow’s sprint race, as the entire field will be reset before then, taking on another three-stage qualifying session to determine how they will line up. And after losing out on pole for the start that matters most, Verstappen will likely take a different approach to preparing his tyres before his flying laps as he did at the end of Friday’s session.
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“I was just trying to put a bit more temperature in them,” he explained. “I think sometimes you’re not fully understanding what you want to do in qualifying.
Verstappen will not be the only Red Bull driver looking for a better result in the second qualifying session of the weekend. Team mate Perez will be eager to make amends on Saturday morning after being in a strong position in the opening sector of his final Q3 lap, only to lose three tenths of a second to Leclerc through the middle sector.
“I think in turn three I lost more than a tenth,” Perez later explained. “I went really deep. Just in general not putting a clean lap, with so many corners around.
“There’s always a combination if you don’t get one corner right – like turn six, then always turn seven can be a bit tricky. I think, certainly, I had more pace than what I’ve shown today. But I’m still in the fight. I think with this tricky qualifying and very little time to get ready for quali, it was just important to make sure that we are in a good position for Sunday.”
Based on what Red Bull have shown over Friday as well as the entire first three weekends of the season, there’s every chance normal service could be resumed on Saturday with Verstappen and Perez locking out the front row for the sprint before pulling away for an easy win. But even if that does end up as the case, just being able to start a race from the front of the field again on Sunday will be reward enough for Ferrari.
“It feels good,” Leclerc said about putting the Scuderia back on pole in a weekend when they have faced questions over his future, as well as the departure of another key member of staff. “I think the whole team needed it
“It’s part of our job in teams in Formula 1 you need to deal with rumours and pressure, but it’s obviously sometimes a bit more difficult to perform under those circumstances and we did really well. So, I think it’s good for the whole team.”
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Qualifying sector times
table id=’Qualifying sector times’ class=’brandedtable’>
Qualifying maximum speeds
Position | Number | Driver | Car | Engine | Model | Max kph (mph) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | Mercedes | AMR23 | 324.4 (201.6) |
2 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | Ferrari | SF-23 | 321.7 (199.9) |
3 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | Mercedes | AMR23 | 321.3 (199.6) |
4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | Ferrari | SF-23 | 321 (199.5) |
5 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | Mercedes | FW45 | 320.9 (199.4) |
6 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | Ferrari | VF-23 | 319.6 (198.6) |
7 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | Red Bull | RB19 | 319.5 (198.5) |
8 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | Red Bull | RB19 | 319.2 (198.3) |
9 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | Renault | A523 | 318.6 (198.0) |
10 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | Red Bull | AT04 | 318.4 (197.8) |
11 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | Mercedes | MCL60 | 317.5 (197.3) |
12 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | Ferrari | C43 | 317.4 (197.2) |
13 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | Mercedes | FW45 | 317.2 (197.1) |
14 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | W14 | 317.2 (197.1) |
15 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | Ferrari | VF-23 | 315.5 (196.0) |
16 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | Mercedes | MCL60 | 315.4 (196.0) |
17 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | Mercedes | W14 | 315.3 (195.9) |
18 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | Renault | A523 | 315.2 (195.9) |
19 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | Ferrari | C43 | 314.8 (195.6) |
20 | 21 | Nyck de Vries | AlphaTauri | Red Bull | AT04 | 301 (187.0) |
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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
Jere (@jerejj)
29th April 2023, 6:13
Indeed & as pointed out yesterday, Leclerc will probably get overtaken by both RBs in the race due to Ferrari’s inferior race pace.