In the far, distant past of the 1990s, when digital satellite television was in its infancy, service providers would regularly offer pay-per-view events for viewers to purchase at the press of a remote.
Whether it was a Robbie Williams concert, live boxing, Wrestlemania or some other special event, they would always be accompanied by a short preview show of around 30 minutes – a last minute pitch to encourage viewers to cough up the cash to watch the main event.In many ways, the Azerbaijan sprint race felt a lot like an extended preview to Sunday’s grand prix – same pole winner, same two cars lining up behind him albeit in a different order. By the time it had ended, everyone – teams, drivers and fans alike – were left with a clear idea about what kind of grand prix is likely to unfold on Sunday. And likely few of them will be expecting a blockbuster race on the strength of those 17 laps.
Even though Charles Leclerc had boosted the confidence of his Ferrari team again on Saturday, backing up his grand prix pole position by topping the grid in sprint race qualifying, he clearly never expected to be able to keep the Red Bulls behind him over the course of the sprint race. As valiant as Leclerc’s effort was, Sergio Perez only had to wait for his opportunity to present himself to challenge for the lead.
When that chance came, almost immediately after DRS was activated, Perez had virtually sealed the eight points the moment his nose edged in front of the Ferrari’s.
The sprint race revealed that, despite the four-week gap between Australia and Azerbaijan, little has truly changed when it comes to the core performance of Red Bull and Ferrari in race trim.
Leclerc enjoyed a great launch off the line to be comfortably leading into the first corner. Race starts have not exactly been Red Bull’s greatest strength in the early part of 2023, as demonstrated by how George Russell managed to challenge Max Verstappen on the short run to the first corner, before going on to elbow his way past in a manner the world champion took great exception to.
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Even if Leclerc manages to emulate his start tomorrow, keeping ahead of Red Bulls will be an almost Herculean challenge. Both Verstappen, second on the grid, and Perez in third have the luxury of an extremely powerful DRS.
There was initially some hope for Ferrari once Leclerc had lost the lead in how he remained in touch with Perez, bringing himself back into DRS range not long after he fell out of it on lap nine. But then, Ferrari’s tyre wear troubles began to rear their head. While Perez maintained a steady pace in the high 1’43s in the lead on tyres were four laps older than Leclerc’s, the Ferrari driver began to lose ground, pushing Verstappen’s damaged car back with him as well.
Leclerc admitted he didn’t try to fight Perez too hard to try in order to keep life in his tyres for as long as he could. “I knew this was our weak point,” he accepted, “I tried to stay within the DRS of Checo, so he could pull me along the straight but that wasn’t enough, we were losing a little bit too much to the end with the degradation, so let’s see what’s possible to improve tomorrow.”
Even beating Verstappen to the flag is not as encouraging for Ferrari as it would have seemed before the sprint race, due to the shark bite-sized hole torn out of Verstappen’s sidepod that likely cost the championship leader a fair amount of speed over the course of the race.
“It was a bit weird,” Verstappen described his car’s handling after the sprint race. “You expect a balance [change], but the way the car was jumping around a lot and sliding in some weird places, vibrations – it’s not great.”
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Ferrari do have Carlos Sainz Jnr starting from the second row of the grid on Sunday behind the two Red Bulls, but from the evidence of Friday and Saturday, it’s foolish to expect him to become a factor in the race – something the driver himself openly admits.
As Sunday’s grand prix will take place with the afternoon sun directly over the circuit, track temperatures should be significantly warmer than during the sprint race. Even for just 17 laps of the sprint race, the soft tyres were “melting”, according to Valtteri Bottas. Therefore it’s little surprise that Pirelli expect teams will lean heavily on the hard tyres during the grand prix, likely starting on the mediums once again before making a single stop for the harder compound.
But Baku is no ordinary circuit and the risk of Safety Cars and even red flag stoppages are as high as they are at almost any other track on the calendar. Fortunately for the vast majority of drivers, most have two unused sets of hard tyres available. If the race is suspended for any reason, even after they have completed a scheduled stop, they will be able to bolt on a fresh set of the hard tyres for free.
However, this circuit has produced uneventful races before too – including its first ever race back in 2016. But whether the race is calm or chaotic, Perez is confident that the best is still to come from him and his team mate.
“I think I had more pace than what I’ve shown today,” he said. “I think tomorrow it’s again a new day and a new challenge.”
Qualifying times in full
| Position | Number | Driver | Team | Q1 time | Q2 time (vs Q1) | Q3 time (vs Q2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’41.269 | 1’41.037 (-0.232s) | 1’40.203 (-0.834s) |
| 2 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1’41.398 | 1’40.822 (-0.576s) | 1’40.391 (-0.431s) |
| 3 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1’41.756 | 1’41.131 (-0.625s) | 1’40.495 (-0.636s) |
| 4 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 1’42.197 | 1’41.369 (-0.828s) | 1’41.016 (-0.353s) |
| 5 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’42.113 | 1’41.650 (-0.463s) | 1’41.177 (-0.473s) |
| 6 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’41.720 | 1’41.370 (-0.350s) | 1’41.253 (-0.117s) |
| 7 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’42.154 | 1’41.485 (-0.669s) | 1’41.281 (-0.204s) |
| 8 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Red Bull | 1’42.234 | 1’41.569 (-0.665s) | 1’41.581 (+0.012s) |
| 9 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’42.524 | 1’41.576 (-0.948s) | 1’41.611 (+0.035s) |
| 10 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’42.455 | 1’41.636 (-0.819s) | 1’41.611 (-0.025s) |
| 11 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1’42.073 | 1’41.654 (-0.419s) | Missed by 0.004s |
| 12 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1’42.622 | 1’41.798 (-0.824s) | Missed by 0.148s |
| 13 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | 1’42.171 | 1’41.818 (-0.353s) | Missed by 0.168s |
| 14 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’42.582 | 1’42.259 (-0.323s) | Missed by 0.609s |
| 15 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | 1’42.242 | 1’42.395 (+0.153s) | Missed by 0.745s |
| 16 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’42.642 | Missed by 0.020s | |
| 17 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | 1’42.755 | Missed by 0.133s | |
| 18 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’43.417 | Missed by 0.795s | |
| 19 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | 1’44.853 | Missed by 2.231s | |
| 20 | 21 | Nyck de Vries | AlphaTauri-Red Bull | 1’45.282 | Missed by 2.660s |
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Sector times
| Position | Number | Driver | Sector one | Sector two | Sector three | Ultimate lap | Deficit to ultimate lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | 35.224 (2) | 40.191 (1) | 24.788 (6) | 1’40.203 | – |
| 2 | 1 | Max Verstappen | 35.277 (3) | 40.335 (2) | 24.667 (1) | 1’40.279 | 0.112 |
| 3 | 11 | Sergio Perez | 35.177 (1) | 40.365 (3) | 24.764 (2) | 1’40.306 | 0.189 |
| 4 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | 35.526 (6) | 40.645 (4) | 24.769 (4) | 1’40.940 | 0.313 |
| 5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | 35.512 (5) | 40.689 (6) | 24.789 (7) | 1’40.990 | 0.026 |
| 6 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | 35.702 (9) | 40.678 (5) | 24.767 (3) | 1’41.147 | 0.030 |
| 7 | 4 | Lando Norris | 35.461 (4) | 40.71 (7) | 25.006 (16) | 1’41.177 | 0.104 |
| 8 | 18 | Lance Stroll | 35.813 (12) | 40.77 (8) | 24.778 (5) | 1’41.361 | 0.215 |
| 9 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | 35.717 (10) | 40.835 (9) | 24.883 (9) | 1’41.435 | 0.134 |
| 10 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | 35.636 (7) | 40.903 (10) | 24.925 (12) | 1’41.464 | 0.147 |
| 11 | 63 | George Russell | 35.731 (11) | 40.933 (11) | 24.927 (13) | 1’41.591 | 0.063 |
| 12 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | 35.7 (8) | 41.037 (13) | 24.893 (10) | 1’41.630 | 0.168 |
| 13 | 23 | Alexander Albon | 35.84 (14) | 40.976 (12) | 24.988 (14) | 1’41.804 | 0.014 |
| 14 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | 35.858 (15) | 41.47 (16) | 24.825 (8) | 1’42.153 | 0.089 |
| 15 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | 35.825 (13) | 41.257 (15) | 25.079 (17) | 1’42.161 | 0.098 |
| 16 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | 36.249 (17) | 41.152 (14) | 24.908 (11) | 1’42.309 | 0.446 |
| 17 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | 36.052 (16) | 41.578 (18) | 25.002 (15) | 1’42.632 | 0.010 |
| 18 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | 36.39 (18) | 41.541 (17) | 25.178 (19) | 1’43.109 | 0.308 |
| 19 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | 36.504 (19) | 42.427 (19) | 25.115 (18) | 1’44.046 | 0.807 |
| 20 | 21 | Nyck de Vries | 41.203 (20) | 47.497 (20) | 26.582 (20) | 1’55.282 | – |
Speed trap
| 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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Over to you
Share your views on the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in the comments.
LyndaMarks
29th April 2023, 22:57
This is one of the biggest drawbacks of the sprint format and why i maintain that it devalues the GP.
We have now seen a full race build-up, Race start and basically the opening stint of a race which has answered many of the unknowns we usually go into a Sunday with.
We know everyone’s race pace, We know how the tires are going to act, We know how likely overtaking will be and how the race is likely going to play out because we saw the patterns today that help you see that.
The argument that the sprint takes nothing away from the GP as the Liberty apologists like to claim ignores all of those things.
I think the best thing to do on these sprint weekends is just ignore them. Maybe just tune in for the GP and skip the rest of it. Although some of the most dedicated fans feeling like they want to skip weekends should surely be seen as a negative for any sensible owners of any sport.
S
30th April 2023, 7:58
What unknowns? Have you not been watching F1 at all for the last year?
Red Bull are way faster over a distance than everyone else.
The sprint does take nothing away from the GP. The GP is the GP no matter what other sessions there are. Each team has already absolutely optimised their entire weekend by the time they get on the plane to fly to the circuit, and completely set it in concrete by Friday afternoon.
The only thing that changes is your expectations – which are entirely in your own head.
If anything – having sprints before the GP has shown team that that they have to fight harder at the start. Thaty’s been the case with most sprint weekends in the past.
Axel
30th April 2023, 10:44
I have watched last year and I believe the first third of 2022 was quite close between Ferrari and RB. So I agree that a sprint took away from the ‘mystery’ of knowing how strong a team would be in the race compared to qualifying. Sure the teams already know, but we don’t know for sure.
S
30th April 2023, 11:01
That was last year – and, yes, the first part of last year was indeed closer. But then Red Bull dominated thereafter and now it is this year….
We don’t know for sure – nobody does – but there have been plenty of firm indications which play out at every event and are evident here yet again.
Let’s just be sensible and honest with ourselves – this is extremely unlikely to be a classic at the front of the pack.
The sprint doesn’t change that.
Biskit Boy (@sean-p-newmanlive-co-uk)
30th April 2023, 8:44
+1
Totally agree with the above. Verstappen is bang on. The FIA and Liberty should be putting their effort into making the GP itself better.
The root issue is the races can become processional and predictable. Changing the sporting rules such as Standing Restarts and Sprint Races doesn’t really address this.
Technical rule changes are required. DRS was supposed to be temporary, it needs to go. The new ground effect regs are a step in the right direction, but much more needs to be done.
Make the racing closer and all of the other problems will seem minor.
Alan Dove
30th April 2023, 8:57
The racing is MotoGP is ‘closer’ and that has a LOT of problems right now. It’s not an easy balance to strike.
Biskit Boy (@sean-p-newmanlive-co-uk)
30th April 2023, 9:12
Ah now we are talking about something a bit different. This is an area where Liberty have excelled and I praise them for it. Yes we are talking… swallow… that word… “Marketing”.
MotoGP is a great product badly marketed. F1’s marketing is amazing and its a great product too. I’m criticising it because I love it. I want it to be better. it can be.
Alan Dove
30th April 2023, 9:34
It’s hard to market MotoGP because the narrative right now is chaotic. There’s a reason Rossi and MotoGP were such a potent force. In MotoGP right now you have a guy whose won the last race now trundling around near the back of the field. From a marketing perspective that produces a complex set of problems. MotoGP isn’t marketed well, I agree, but right now it feels a bit like a random results generator. That’s the risk when the competition is so close. Whether people like it or not we do need heroes and villains and titanic battles between quite a small number of competitors. Otherwise there’s nothing cohesive from a narrative point of view.
it’s a careful balancing act.
Olivier
30th April 2023, 12:35
Here’s how my ideal weekend would look like:
Friday Practice 1: a one hour session with Reserve/Third/Rookie drivers only
Friday Practice 2: a one hour session with Reserve/Third/Rookie drivers only
Saturday Qualifying at noon
Saturday Sprint Race in the late afternoon, with a reversed grid from the Saturday Qualifying
Sunday Practice: a one hour session with Reserve/Third/Rookie drivers only
Sunday Grand Prix
Using Reserve/Third/Rookie drivers for the practice sessions is a variable that helps create mystery as their performance differ from the actual drivers. And using a reversed grid for the sprint race offers back marker teams the chance to fight for points in the short sprint race.
Olivier
30th April 2023, 12:40
*To be clear: The start order for the Sunday race would be determined by the Saturday Qualifying. And not by the Sprint race.
Jere (@jerejj)
30th April 2023, 4:35
I can’t see Leclerc winning unless RBR gets a double-DNF or issues/damage.
Even if he keeps P1 at the beginning, like yesterday, he’d most likely get passed the first time DRS becomes activatable on the S/F straight, assuming both RBs are still behind without damage.