Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc clinched a surprise pole position for 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Following a sprint weekend format revamp, Friday’s Qualifying session set the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix in which Leclerc secured pole position ahead of Practice pacesetter – Max Verstappen and his Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez.
Three red flags across Practice and Qualifying however meant a disruptive Friday as teams adapted to the new weekend format, with Sprint Shootout Qualifying and Sprint Race now taking up Saturday’s schedule.
Now, here is a roundup of Practice and Qualifying for 2023 Azerbaijan GP in Baku.
Practice
With teams limited to just one practice session this weekend, several drivers ventured straight out of the pit lane with AlphaTauri’s Nyck De Vries and Yuki Tsunoda the only pair to run their opening stints on the soft tyre.
De Vries proceeded to set the initial benchmark time of 1m 49.541 but Verstappen and Perez quickly headed various drivers to beat his lap time, as Fernando Alonso went top for Aston Martin with 1m 47.447 on medium tyres in the seventh minute.
McLaren’s Lando Norris briefly went top a minute later but Verstappen and Perez swiftly assumed control at the top of timesheet in the 10th minute, largely unchallenged throughout the session.
Mercedes though encountered brake issues on the cars of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in the opening minutes, which disrupted their running and particularly Hamilton who was stuck in the garage for much of the opening half-hour.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly meanwhile caused an unwanted red flag in the 16th minute after he suffered a suspected hydraulic leak, just six minutes after Tsunoda narrowly avoided causing a stoppage himself due to a right-rear tyre puncture as he limped back to the pits after spinning at Turn 3.
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen meanwhile stopped at Turn 1 with a loss of fuel pressure as the red flag came out, which caused further delay and the session eventually resumed 16 minutes later – minus Esteban Ocon after Alpine opted not to send him back out.
Verstappen meanwhile headed Perez and Charles Leclerc at the time of the stoppage and the top three held position upon the restart, until Sainz went third quickest in the 40th minute before Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll improved to second just three minutes later.
Several drivers eventually attempted a soft-tyre qualifying simulation in the final ten minutes, as Perez initially went top with 1m 42.651 in the 51st minute only for Leclerc to go fastest in the final minute by 0.299 seconds.
Verstappen however eventually out Leclerc by 0.037s to top the session whilst Perez improved his time but fell 0.139s shy in third, as Sainz and Norris rounded out the top five.
Outside of the top five, Alonso, Hamilton, Russell, Ocon and Gasly set their best times on medium tyres whilst Magnussen’s best effort was done on the hard tyre.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 42.315 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.037 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.139 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.584 |
| 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.810 |
| 6 | Nyck De Vries | AlphaTauri | + 1.099 |
| 7 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.140 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 1.245 |
| 9 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.313 |
| 10 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 1.433 |
| 11 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 1.483 |
| 12 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 1.665 |
| 13 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 1.695 |
| 14 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 1.822 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 2.008 |
| 16 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 2.585 |
| 17 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 2.767 |
| 18 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 3.640 |
| 19 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 4.006 |
| 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 5.183 |
Qualifying
Q1
A hectic start to Qualifying saw several cars swiftly head out once the pit exit light turned green with Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg setting the initial benchmark time of 1m 44.305 in the fourth minute.
Hulkenberg’s lap time however was swiftly bettered by various drivers as Hamilton, Alex Albon, Oscar Piastri and Norris briefly went top before Verstappen posted 1m 41.887 to go fastest in the sixth minute ahead of Leclerc.
De Vries though caused the first red flag of Qualifying just eight minutes in after he braked too late into Turn 3 and ploughed head-on into the barriers, which caused a 16 minute delay whilst his AlphaTauri was removed and the barrier repaired.
The restart though only lasted three minutes before Gasly broke his right-rear tyre at the same corner, which caused another red flag and the session resumed 11 minutes later with the bottom five compromised of; Ocon, Tsunoda, Gasly, De Vries and Sainz.
Once the checkered flag fell, Guanyu Zhou was eliminated in 16th position ahead of Hulkenberg and Magnussen, alongside Gasly and De Vries will share the back row.
Leclerc meanwhile posted 1m 41.269 at the very end to top Q1 which had been dominated by Verstappen.
Q2
Alonso was first out on track and set the initial benchmark time of 1m 41.400 which was only bettered by Verstappen, Perez and Leclerc in the opening eight minutes of the session.
McLaren meanwhile held Norris back until the second-half of the session as he propped up the timesheet behind Sainz, Logan Sargeant, Tsunoda and Valtteri Bottas in the elimination zone come the eighth minute.
Sainz though had struggled with tyre temperature and went fifth a minute later to lift himself out of the drop zone.
As the checkered flag fell amidst Hamilton and Russell both briefly flirting with the drop before initially looking safe, Logan Sargeant finished 15th fastest in his first Q2 appearance, behind Bottas, Albon, Ocon and Russell – who missed out on Q3 to Hamilton by 0.004s.
Verstappen meanwhile finished Q2 fastest with 1m 40.822 ahead of Leclerc by 0.215s.
Q3
Only Stroll and Piastri opted not to join the quick flurry of Q3 qualifiers heading out as soon as the pit exit light turned green, as Perez proceeded to immediately lay down a benchmark time of 1m 40.563 in the fourth minute.
Verstappen seconds later posted 1m 40.445 which Leclerc exactly matched but the two-time champion stayed top – by virtue of having set his lap time just before Leclerc despite both drivers having set the exact same time.
Perez sat 0.118s behind in third ahead of Sainz, Hamilton, Norris, Tsunoda and Alonso, whilst Stroll and Piastr opted to run in the gap which saw them go seventh and tenth respectively on the timesheet.
On the final run, Leclerc posted 1m 40.203 to snatch provisional pole which Verstappen ultimately couldn’t match, as the Dutchman settled for the front row ahead of Perez, Sainz, Hamilton, Alonso, Norris, Tsunoda, Stroll and Piastri.
Leclerc will consequently begin the Grand Prix from pole position for the 19th time in his F1 career, with Saturday’s action centred around the Sprint Race complete with a separate Sprint Qualifying session to set that Sprint Race grid.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1m 40.203 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.188 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.292 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.813 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.974 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 1.050 |
| 7 | Lando Norris | AlphaTauri | + 1.078 |
| 8 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 1.378 |
| 9 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.408 |
| 10 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 1.408 |
| 11 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1m 41.654 |
| 12 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.144 |
| 13 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.164 |
| 14 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 0.605 |
| 15 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 0.741 |
| 16 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 1m 42.642 |
| 17 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 0.113 |
| 18 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 0.775 |
| 19 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 2.211 |
| 20 | Nyck De Vries | AlphaTauri | + 12.640 |
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