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Azerbaijan GP: Leclerc takes sprint shootout pole despite barrier hit

  • Darshan Chokhani
    • F1, Azerbaijan GP

    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.

    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.

    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