Charles Leclerc hit the barrier but kept F1 Azerbaijan GP sprint shootout pole from Red Bull pair of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.
SQ1:
The first part in F1 Azerbaijan GP sprint shootout saw everybody on the medium tyres as mandated. They were quick out of the blocks too for their first lap. As the first laps were coming in, there was an early yellow flag for McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
There was an off for AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries as well, but the last lap didn’t matter as the session under red flag after Williams’ Logan Sargeant crashed out after hitting the wall at Turn 15 with traffic ahead. He made it in SQ2 though.
At the front, it was Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on top with a 1m42.820s lap from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in the Top 3. The drop zone saw both the Alfa Romeo out with Zhou Guanyu in 16th after a 1m45.177s lap.
He led teammate Valtteri Bottas (1m45.352s) as AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda (1m45.436s) was 18th from Alpine’s Pierre Gasly (1m46.951s) and AlphaTauri’s de Vries (1m48.180s). Gasly only did few laps and didn’t venture out after early running.
SQ2:
The second part in F1 Azerbaijan GP sprint shootout saw another early yellow flag with Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg had a lock-up to go wide. It affected laps of multiple drivers who were left with less time to set a lap time to make it into SQ3.
There was couple of yellow flag moments, one for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. At the front, Verstappen was on top with a 1m42.417s lap from Leclerc and Sainz in the Top 3. The bottom zone saw McLaren’s Piastri bow out in 11th after a 1m43.427s lap.
Despite a flat spot, Hulkenberg (1m43.806s) was 12th after his late quick lap from Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m44.088s), Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (1m44.332s), with Sargeant not taking part.
Q3:
The final part in F1 Azerbaijan GP sprint shootout saw drivers using the soft tyres as mandated but Norris’ session was done and dusted with no new red-walled tyres at his disposal. It meant, only nine drivers could take part in the session.
The first laps saw Leclerc take the top spot with a 1m41.697s lap from Perez and Verstappen. There was a bit of a traffic for the final attempt on the same tyre, but it didn’t matter as the Monegasque ended up taking sprint shootout pole.
Leclerc hit the wall on his final lap but since Ferrari were the last ones to set a lap and so he only ruined Sainz’s lap in all of it. Perez and Verstappen were second and third as they couldn’t find enough time to beat Leclerc in the end.
The only one to lose out was Sainz as Mercedes’ George Russell jumped him to fourth, with Hamilton in sixth from Williams’ Alexander Albon, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. The Aston Martin continued to face DRS issues throughout the session.
#F1 #SprintShootout All cars on medium tyres. Out in SprintQually1, which ended with a RED FLAG as Logan Sargeant touched the wall as he got distracted by both Ferrari's. Pierre Gasly just can't catch a break this weekend. #MsportXtra pic.twitter.com/iHST8ZARhL
— #MsportXtra © (@MsportXtra) April 29, 2023
#F1 #SprintShootout Out in SprintQualifying2. All cars on medium tyres. Fernando Alonso still has a DRS issue. #MsportXtra pic.twitter.com/5wojqCYLaF
— #MsportXtra © (@MsportXtra) April 29, 2023
#F1 #SprintShootout Results SprintQualifying3 and the provisional grid for the SPRINT this afternoon. In this session, drivers HAVE to use new softs. Those that dont have new soft tyres, can't compete in SQ3. Norris didn't. #MsportXtra #AzerbaijanGP @BakuCityCircuit pic.twitter.com/QpaitFUatE
— #MsportXtra © (@MsportXtra) April 29, 2023
UPDATE: Alpine broke parc ferme on Ocon’s car which is why the Frenchman will start from the pitlane for both the sprint and also Sunday’s main race. Also, Williams withdrew Sargeant from the sprint race after his Q1 crash.
The team has taken Car #31 out of parc ferme conditions, meaning Esteban will start today’s Sprint Race and tomorrow's #AzerbaijanGP from the Pit Lane.#Alpine pic.twitter.com/R5ypR88w1Y
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) April 29, 2023
Logan’s car will not run in the #F1Sprint this afternoon despite the best efforts of the team. 😔
After receiving the FW45 back following the shootout, we worked flat-out on the car but there is not enough time to complete the repair. Subsequently we have withdrawn Logan from… pic.twitter.com/cy8Q1nerww
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) April 29, 2023
Here’s new PU element for Saturday: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2023%20Azerbaijan%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20New%20PU%20elements%20for%20this%20Competition_1.pdf
Here’s what was said after Friday in F1 Azerbaijan GP
Here’s how F1 Azerbaijan GP qualifying panned out