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Charles Leclerc shocks Red Bull in Baku to fuel rumours of Mercedes switch


Ferrari&#39;s Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc reacts after taking the pole position after the qualifying session for the Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit in Baku on April 28, 2023. - Natalia Kolesnikova/Getty Images

Ferrari’s Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc reacts after taking the pole position after the qualifying session for the Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit in Baku on April 28, 2023. – Natalia Kolesnikova/Getty Images

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc said his sensational pole lap for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix felt particularly sweet coming in a week in which he has had to deal with “rumours and pressure” after being linked with Mercedes as a possible replacement for Lewis Hamilton.

Leclerc became the first non-Red Bull driver this year to claim P1 for a grand prix when he pipped Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by 0.188 seconds in Baku. It was a sensational performance, underscored by the fact that he beat his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz by a whopping 0.8sec.

It was also an encouraging sign for neutrals hoping the new sprint weekend format will mix things up.

The format makes drivers qualify for Sunday’s race on Friday, after just one free practice session, with Saturday becoming a standalone sprint day with its own qualifying session and sprint race. Verstappen had predicted it could lead to “chaos”.

And while there is no way of knowing to what extent the lack of preparation time affected the double world champion’s qualifying – he finished just ahead of team-mate Sergio Pérez, with Sainz fourth, Hamilton fifth and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso sixth – there was a definite sense that we might have seen a different result had we had the usual three practice sessions before qualifying.

Pole position qualifier Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Ferrari celebrates in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on April 28, 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan - Getty Images/Dan Mullan

Pole position qualifier Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Ferrari celebrates in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on April 28, 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan – Getty Images/Dan Mullan

Leclerc admitted he had not been expecting pole, adding that he was particularly proud of his performance given the rumours which surfaced in Italy earlier this week that he had been talking to Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.

“It is part of our job, for any team in Formula One, to deal with rumours and pressure but it is obviously sometimes a bit more difficult to perform under those circumstances and we did really well so it is good for the whole team,” argued the Monegasque driver, who, it must be said, did not exactly douse the speculation when he commented that he had “not yet” held talks with Mercedes and was focused on Ferrari “for now”.

Leclerc added: “We came into the weekend thinking it would be a great result if we are in front of the Aston Martins and the Mercedes, and we find ourselves on pole so I am really happy with that.”

Whether Ferrari can translate good qualifying pace into good race pace – their achilles heel throughout last year – is another matter. Verstappen did not sound overly concerned by starting P2. “We know that we have a very good race car,” said the Dutchman. “I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do.”

Further back, Hamilton said he was pretty happy with third row on the grid after he nearly joined team-mate George Russell in exiting in Q2. Russell, who qualified on the front row in Australia, said he made a mistake on his last run, which probably cost him Q3 (“Ah sugar!” he exclaimed over the radio, in typically polite fashion, when told he had just missed out).

But he said he remained confident of making up ground in Sunday’s grand prix. “Of all the tracks to have bad qualifying, it is probably the one, or one of the ones, you would choose to do it. I see no reason why we can’t fight back on Sunday.”

We have an entire sprint qualifying session and sprint race – with points on offer for the top eight finishers – to go before then. Given teams are not allowed to make changes to their cars overnight, it is going to be fascinating to see how similar Saturday’s qualifying session is to Friday’s.

“I might be able to eke a bit more out tomorrow,” Hamilton said, hopefully. “Although we have a big deficit on the straights. We have a lot of work to do to rectify that. We haven’t had an upgrade this weekend but we’re working towards one which will hopefully put us a bit closer to the battle.”

Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying, classification

  1. Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1min 40.203secs

  2. Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:40.391

  3. Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull 1:40.495

  4. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spa) Ferrari 1:41.016

  5. Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:41.177

  6. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 1:41.253

  7. Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:41.281

  8. Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:41.581

  9. Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:41.611

  10. Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1:41.611

  11. George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:41.654

  12. Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine 1:41.798

  13. Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:41.818

  14. Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:42.259

  15. Logan Sargeant (USA) Williams 1:42.395

  16. Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:42.642

  17. Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Haas F1 Team 1:42.755

  18. Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 Team 1:43.417

  19. Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1:44.853

  20. Nyck de Vries (Ned) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:55.282

Azerbaijan Grand Prix practice and qualifying, as it happened

03:55 PM

A fine lap from Norris, too

Ahead of Stroll, pretty much level with Hamilton and Alonso. Big progress for McLaren who have had a difficult start to the season.

Circuit, Baku, Azerbaijan - April 28, 2023 McLaren&#39;s Lando Norris before qualifying - Reuters/Maxim Shemetov

Circuit, Baku, Azerbaijan – April 28, 2023 McLaren’s Lando Norris before qualifying – Reuters/Maxim Shemetov

03:45 PM

That Charles Leclerc lap was an anomaly, really

0.8s ahead of his team-mate and nearly two tenths ahead of a car (well, two of them) that has destroyed all-comers so far this year. A truly sensational lap.

Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving the (16) Ferrari SF-23 on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on April 28, 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan - Getty Images/Alex Pantling

Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving the (16) Ferrari SF-23 on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on April 28, 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan – Getty Images/Alex Pantling

03:43 PM

The Mercedes-powered cars appear to have dropped back

Here’s the power unit line-up from qualifying:

  1. Ferrari

  2. RBPT

  3. RBPT

  4. Ferrari

  5. Mercedes

  6. Mercedes

  7. Mercedes

  8. RPT

  9. Mercedes

  10. Mercedes

Not so much the order as the gaps. Mercedes probably roughly where they were in fairness.

03:37 PM

Charles Leclerc on a surprise pole position

«I am surprised, we came into the weekend thinking it will be a great weekend if we are in front of Aston and Mercedes in qualifying and in the end we are on pole. We must not forget that our race car is still behind the Red Bulls so it will be difficult to keep the lead. The feeling was good since the start, so we are really, really happy. It’s going to be challenging because we haven’t run the medium yet, so tomorrow in qualifying will be the first time.»

Ferrari&#39;s Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc reacts after taking the pole position after the qualifying session for the Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit in Baku on April 28, 2023 - Getty Images/Natalia Kolesnikova

Ferrari’s Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc reacts after taking the pole position after the qualifying session for the Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit in Baku on April 28, 2023 – Getty Images/Natalia Kolesnikova

03:37 PM

Max Verstappen on a front-row start

«It’s always tough around here, to put the whole lap together. On the second run we tried something on the out lap which maybe was not ideal for the lap. It’s not the easiest but nevertheless we are P2, we know that we have a very good race car. Looking forward to it to see what we can do there, maybe we can find a few things to do better. It’s all about keeping it clean, it’s super easy around here to make a mistake.»

03:36 PM

Sergio Perez speaks after his third place

«It started pretty tricky in Q1 with the amount of red flags and then sticking to the same set, just to get through without making mistakes without much practice it was pretty challenging. I am pretty disappointed to be sitting P3 because I thought there was more in it. My lap wasn’t that clean. We knew coming here that the Ferrari was going to be the biggest threat to us and I think Charles has done a tremendous lap as well.»

03:32 PM

A good frame of reference is always the team-mate

Leclerc was eight tenths ahead of his!

03:30 PM

Q3 – Classification

  1. LEC 1:40.203

  2. VER +0.188

  3. PER +0.292

  4. SAI +0.813

  5. HAM +0.974

  6. ALO +1.050

  7. NOR +1.078

  8. TSU +1.378

  9. STR +1.408

  10. PIA +1.408

03:29 PM

CHARLES LECLERC TAKES POLE FOR THE 2023 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX

Sainz can’t beat Leclerc, Perez stays third and Verstappen can’t do it either! He’s second.

A fine, fine pair of laps from Leclerc and the man who usually goes so well on this track has gone well again and takes pole for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix!

«Come on! Yes, ahhh! It feels good. Amazing job, all the quali,» he says.

03:28 PM

Q3 – Leclerc goes fastest

Can anyone stop him? It’ll be hard…

03:27 PM

Q3 – Leclerc 0.250s up after two sectors

Just needs a good finish to the lap and he’s got a good chance of pole…

Perez is four tenths down… and Verstappen is dropping back a bit…

03:26 PM

Q3 – Leclerc up by a tenth on the best lap after one sector

Perez is a tenth and a half up, but Verstappen is a tenth off his team-mate at the same point…

03:26 PM

Q3 – Drivers out for their final runs

Lance Stroll’s DRS did not work on the back straight on his previous hot lap, so that must have cost him a fair few tenths.

03:25 PM

Q3 – Order and gaps after the first runs

  1. VER 1:40.445

  2. LEC +0.000

  3. PER +0.118

  4. SAI +0.571

  5. HAM +0.732

  6. NOR +1.149

  7. STR +1.526

  8. TSU +1.593

  9. ALO +1.636

  10. PIA +1.652

03:24 PM

Q3 – Stroll into seventh

Ahead of Alonso at least. Aston Martin struggling to keep pace with the front here this weekend, it seems. Piastri about to finish his first flying lap of Q3, and it puts him 10th.

03:23 PM

Q3 – Stroll not pulling up any trees here, running solo

1.2s off Verstappen after two sectors.

Five minutes remain. 

03:22 PM

Q3 – Order so far

Lance Stroll and Oscar Piastri yet to set a lap time.

  1. VER

  2. LEC

  3. PER

  4. SAI

  5. HAM

  6. NOR

  7. TSU

  8. ALO

  9. STR

  10. PIA

Not sure what happened to Alonso. Old tyres?

03:21 PM

Q3 – Verstappen crosses the line with a 1:40.445

That’s 0.118s faster than Perez, but Leclerc has to be close, surely?

He crosses the line second, but with exactly the same time as Verstappen! To three decimal places… Leclerc is behind because he set his time later.

Sainz fourth, and then Hamilton fifth before Norris but those three are adrift of the top three.

03:19 PM

Q3 – Perez with a 40.365 in S2

Verstappen gains a tenth on him…

Leclerc is there or thereabouts… this could be close!

03:19 PM

Q3 – Perez with a 35.319s in sector one

Verstappen is slower but by just 0.011s…

Leclerc is ahead of that by a few hundredths though…

03:18 PM

Q3 – Here we go

The first runs are under way…

03:16 PM

Q3 begins!

12 minutes, 10 drivers and one pole sitter for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

03:15 PM

Other notable events in Q2

Great laps by the McLarens and Tsunoda in seventh too. Much-needed for AlphaTauri. Mercedes all at sea again… Ferrari up there.

03:12 PM

Q2 – Classification

  1. VER 1:40.822

  2. LEC +0.215

  3. PER +0.309

  4. SAI +0.547

  5. ALO +0.548

  6. NOR +0.663

  7. TSU +0.747

  8. STR +0.754

  9. PIA +0.814

  10. HAM +0.828
    ELIMINATED: 

  11. RUS

  12. OCO

  13. ALB

  14. BOT

  15. SAR

03:10 PM

Q2 ends – Verstappen fastest ahead of Leclerc and Perez

Russell out! «We don’t have the pace this weekend, guys,» he says.  He is joined by Ocon, Albon, Bottas and Sargeant as the eliminated drivers.

03:09 PM

Q2 – Verstappen moves fastest

0.215s ahead of Charles Leclerc, Bottas stays 14th and is out. Piastri improves to eighth, pushing Russell down into 11th…

Will he be out? It looks like it! He is… Russell fails to make it through to Q3. Hamilton only just made it… they both might have been out had Albon done a better lap.

03:08 PM

Q2 – Leclerc improves to go fastest

0.094s ahead of Perez… Verstappen sets the fastest first sector.  Ocon is improving to try and get himself out of Q2 and into Q3. He goes 10th, but not by much. Vulnerable.

Verstappen fastest in the first two sectors now…

03:05 PM

Q2 – Russell only ninth on his latest run

Mercedes struggling as the session goes on. Not much time between Hamilton and Russell on their latest laps, just 0.004. Sainz goes straight on at turn three and brings out the yellow flags before reversing back onto the track and resuming his run.

03:04 PM

Q2 – Albon moves up to seventh

That drops Hamilton down into 11th…

Norris about to finish his first lap and he then moves up to seventh. Hamilton under a bit of pressure here? He’s on a decent lap and is likely to improve. He does to go eighth. Hmmm. Not stellar.

03:03 PM

Q2 – Alonso did not improve

Ocon did and now sits 10th, Tsunoda moving up into the top 10 too, moving Albon down to 11th.

It’s Albon, Piastri, Bottas, Sargeant and Norris in the drop zone. Norris the only man not to set a time but he is beginning his hot lap now. Not a great first sector time…

03:00 PM

Q2 – Leclerc up into third

0.085s off Perez, so up there with the Red Bulls in a way that Alonso wasn’t. Not quite, anyway. But will Alonso improve on his second lap as the track rubbers in?

03:00 PM

Q2 – Order after the first runs

  1. PER 1:41.131

  2. VER +0.062

  3. ALO +0.269

  4. RUS +0.876

  5. HAM +1.042

  6. OCO +1.048

  7. STR +1.070

  8. ALB +1.072

  9. PIA +1.097

  10. BOT +1.510
    DROP ZONE: 

  11. TSU +1.510

  12. SAR+1.598

  13. LEC (NO TIME)

  14. SAI (NO TIME)

  15. NOR (NO TIME)

02:58 PM

Q2 – Verstappen can’t dislodge Perez from the top

His time is 0.062s behind his team-mate.

02:58 PM

Q2 – Perez on a flyer

He will go fastest here now, surely, but by how much? 0.269s over Alonso, with the Mercedes cars of Russell and Hamilton 0.876 and 1.042s behind respectively.

Verstappen on a decent lap, and this will be close…

02:57 PM

Q2 – Perez fastest in the first sector on the first laps

No Verstappen yet, though.

Alonso will cross the line first and posts a 1:41.400 to go fastest, Stroll nearly eight tenths behind his team-mate.

02:53 PM

Q2 begins!

15 minutes, 10 drivers to go through and five to be eliminated.

02:51 PM

Hamilton clipped the wall at turn 15

Nothing major but should be ok.

02:49 PM

Q1 – Classification

  1. LEC 1:41.269

  2. VER +0.129

  3. ALO +0.451

  4. PER +0.487

  5. RUS +0.804

  6. HAM +0.844

  7. NOR +0.885

  8. ALB +0.905

  9. SAI +0.928

  10. TSU +0.965

  11. SAR +0.973

  12. PIA +1.186

  13. STR +1.255

  14. BOT +1.313

  15. OCO +1.353
    ELIMINATED: 

  16. ZHO

  17. HUL

  18. MAG

  19. GAS

  20. DEV

02:48 PM

Q1 – Leclerc goes fastest at the very end!

Just a tenth or so ahead of Verstappen with Alonso third. I don’t think Verstappen or Perez set additional timed laps.

02:47 PM

Q1 – Russell improves from 10th

Leclerc on a good lap. Perez seems to back off in the final sector. Sainz is eighth. Can Bottas get through? 16th currently but he moves up to 13th… that might not be good enough. Piastri briefly in the drop zone before moving up to 11th.

Zhou and Hulkenberg in the drop zone now… is that it for them?

02:45 PM

Q1 – Perez with the fastest first sector

Sargeant trying to get himself into Q2. He is getting a tow from his team-mate on the pit straight. Albon stays sixth, Sargeant moves into seventh! Will that see him through? Probably.

02:44 PM

Q1 – One minute remains

Magnussen does make it back into the pits. Only two cars eliminated in effect now with Magnussen, Gasly and De Vries already out.

02:43 PM

Q1 – Order into the final runs

  1. VER

  2. PER

  3. LEC

  4. HAM

  5. NOR

  6. ALB

  7. ALO

  8. STR

  9. RUS

  10. SAI

  11. OCO

  12. TSU

  13. PIA

  14. HUL

  15. SAR

DROP ZONE: BOT, ZHO, MAG, GAS, DEV

02:43 PM

Q1 – What can Alonso do?

He was 11th but crosses the line to improve to seventh, just over a second off Verstappen’s pace.

02:42 PM

Q1 – Albon into third!

But Perez moves up to first ahead of Verstappen. Hamilton into fourth but Russell is struggling, only sixth.

Magnussen is told to come back into the pit as there’s something up with the car… can he get back?

Sainz into seventh with his first timed lap. Norris into fifth, dropping Sainz down.

02:41 PM

Q1 – Verstappen on a good lap

Fastest in sector one. This is going to be a chaotic end to the session and I’ll do all I can to keep you updated.

Albon with the fastest middle sector of anyone… 

02:39 PM

Q1 resumes!

We’ve been going nearly 40 minutes and we aren’t even at the end of the first part of qualifying…

As it stands: Ocon, Tsunoda, Gasly and De Vries are in the drop zone. Clearly De Vries and Gasly won’t be progressing… Sainz needs to find a lap and he doesn’t have many chances remaining.

02:35 PM

Q1 to resume in three minutes

Seven minutes and 32 seconds on the clock. A little more fraught now, having lost another three or so minutes on the clock.

02:34 PM

Logan Sargeant is annoyed at the red flag

He was on a good lap, he says. He’s not wrong, his first sector was faster than Hamilton, Albon and only 0.037s off Perez.

02:31 PM

I won’t do the full order again…

….because it has not changed since the last time. However, you can click here to see that.

02:30 PM

Q1 – A messy day so far…

Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you. I didn’t think we’d get a red flag quite so soon. It was at turn three, like De Vries, too. Replays show that Sainz nearly spun and clunked the barrier with his rear right but avoided it. He spins and locks up his tyres and that will have made a mess of them. Lots of mistakes today.

02:28 PM

Q1! RED FLAG

Gasly has had a shunt! His right rear end is in a mess and he continues to go around the track but his session is over… and after all that work the mechanics did on his car after practice. Admittedly that wasn’t his fault. There is some damage to the barrier as well…

02:26 PM

Q1 resumes!

Sainz has no lap on the board yet. A replay showed that De Vries had a brake-by-wire issue at the start of the session, but whether that affected his braking into turn three when he crashed I do not know.

02:23 PM

A big queue at the end of the pit lane

Wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up having another red flag with all these cars jostling for position and not a great deal of time on the board. It is, at least, a long lap…

02:22 PM

Update: Session to resume at 2.24pm BST

Hooray. 10mins 17sec remain on the clock.

02:21 PM

We’re getting there…

02:18 PM

A bit of a strange crash from De Vries

Normally if drivers get their braking wrong there they go straight down the escape road and reverse out or spin-turn. De Vries tried to take the corner and utterly failed. Easy in hindsight, but he went in very hot and must have had some idea that he’d overcooked it?

A bit of a delay here because of how De Vries front end (or rather that of his car) was wedged into the barrier.

02:15 PM

10 minutes and 17 seconds remain in the session

Should be enough for those who didn’t set a time to do so. That’s only Sainz of the drivers who still have intact cars. Piastri had just gone fastest of anyone in the first sector before the red flag was throw, so that ruined his lap.

Oscar Piastri of Australia driving the (81) McLaren MCL60 Mercedes on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on April 28, 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan - Getty Images/Bryn Lennon

Oscar Piastri of Australia driving the (81) McLaren MCL60 Mercedes on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on April 28, 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan – Getty Images/Bryn Lennon

02:11 PM

Q1 – Current order under the red flag

  1. VER 1:41.887

  2. LEC +0.218

  3. ALO +0.761

  4. NOR +0.904

  5. HAM +1.028

  6. HUL +1.123

  7. PIA +1.428

  8. PER +1.486

  9. MAG +1.530

  10. BOT +1.577

  11. STR +1.675

  12. ALB +1.728

  13. ZHO +1.897

  14. SAR +1.960

  15. RUS +1.978

  16. OCO +2.226

  17. TSU +2.567

  18. GAS +2.966

  19. DEV +13.395

  20. SAI (NO TIME)

02:09 PM

Q1 – RED FLAG

Red flag confirmed, he has t-boned the barriers at turn three and the front end is a mess. Just went in far too hot and paid the price.

02:08 PM

Q1 – 10 mins remain

Sainz restarts his flying lap as we see even more yellow flags… it’s Nyck De Vries into the wall and that will be a red flag!

02:07 PM

Q1 – Verstappen leaps to the top

He leads Leclerc by two tenths and then the two McLarens. Fernando Alonso is two sectors in but might struggle to get into the top four.

He does make it into the top four: third, but nearly eight tenths off Verstappen’s time.

02:06 PM

Q1 – It’s a McLaren 1-2 at the top… for now

Norris leads Piastri by half a second as Carlos Sainz aborts his lap and goes into the pit lane.

02:05 PM

Q1 – Hamilton crosses the line with a 1:43.676

He picks up a bit of a tow from Hulkenberg, but Alexander Albon beats that by 0.063s before Bottas goes top by 0.151s.

02:04 PM

Q1 – Yellow flags out for Zhou Guanyu

He is able to get going again, though, so nothing more serious than a yellow flag needed.

02:03 PM

Q1 – Every driver out

16 mins remain and every driver is out on the soft compound tyres.

02:01 PM

Gasly has made it

«Thanks for the boys to get the car out,» Pierre Gasly says.

02:00 PM

Q1 begins!

Green light at the end of the pit lane, Fernando Alonso keen to get out there first and there is a lengthy queue behind him.

01:59 PM

Predictions?

Let’s not bother with the front row… I think a Mercedes out in Q2. Norris to qualify in the top six. Albon not too far behind for Williams.

01:57 PM

Under five minutes until Q1 begins

A reminder that we are operating on a different – and new – schedule this weekend due to the revised sprint race format.

01:39 PM

Will Gasly partake in qualifying? Looks a tight-run thing

01:32 PM

How the drivers stack up against each other in qualifying this year

01:20 PM

Dan Fallows interview: The electronic music maker behind Aston Martin’s rise

Fallows has been credited with playing a major role in that leap up the grid – Aston Martin finished seventh at the end of last year, the secrets he brought with him from Red Bull when he joined Aston Martin this time last year yielding instant results.

Fallows looks a little embarrassed by that suggestion.

“It gives the impression that somehow I’m responsible for the design of the car, which is absolutely not true,” he says. “I mean, we made some changes to the direction… to the way we approach the development of the car [after he joined]. And it’s paid off in a very gratifying way this year. But it’s not down to me. It’s down to the 700 or so people who work here.”

Aston Martin F1 engineer Dan Fallows, at the Aston Martin Racing HQ, Silverstone, Northants., 14th April, 2023 - The Telegraph/John Robertson

Aston Martin F1 engineer Dan Fallows, at the Aston Martin Racing HQ, Silverstone, Northants., 14th April, 2023 – The Telegraph/John Robertson

Read Tom Cary’s full interview with the Aston Martin man here. 

01:11 PM

A reminder for those of you joining now

That qualifying begins at 2pm BST. It’s a straight three-part one-hour session and it will set the grid for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

01:04 PM

FP1 report: Verstappen heads Leclerc as Gasly’s session ends in flames

Max Verstappen set the fastest time in practice for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

In a revised sprint-weekend format the Red Bull driver was 0.037sec faster than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with Sergio Perez a further tenth behind.

Lando Norris was fifth for McLaren, behind Carlos Sainz, whilst Lewis Hamilton was 11th, with Mercedes team-mate George Russell down in 17th.

The Friday practice session is the only running before qualifying for Sunday’s race taking place on Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Pierre Gasly was at risk of missing qualifying for the grand prix after his car burst into flames, causing a red flag that ate into the little practice time available.

Baku City Circuit, Baku, Azerbaijan - April 28, 2023 Marshals extinguish a fire on the car of Alpine&#39;s Pierre Gasly during practice - Reuters/Leonhard Foeger

Baku City Circuit, Baku, Azerbaijan – April 28, 2023 Marshals extinguish a fire on the car of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly during practice – Reuters/Leonhard Foeger

Gasly tried to drive back to the pits with flames visible at the rear of the car before parking on the side of the track. Thick black smoke poured from under the engine cover of the Alpine as Gasly watched a group of track marshals douse the fire. They used several fire extinguishers, leaving the car’s cockpit full of foam.

It was another setback for Gasly after he collided with team-mate Esteban Ocon during the last race in Australia.

The incident caused a red flag for about 13 minutes in the hour-long practice session of the F1 weekend. The clock doesn’t stop for red flags in practice sessions, meaning teams lost valuable time to perfect their setups before qualifying later Friday.

Kevin Magnussen stopped his Haas on the track at about the same time as Gasly’s fire. The team said he had an unexpected loss of fuel pressure.

Qualifying begins at 2pm BST.

11:42 AM

An interesting session

Red Bull out front again but with a Ferrari between them. Decent laps from Norris and De Vries, certainly. Bit of a disastrous session for Alpine with just 15 laps completed between their two drivers and one of their cars up in smoke.

Course marshals extinguish an engine fire in a car of Alpine driver Pierre Gasly of France during a practice session at the Baku circuit, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Friday, April 28, 2023. The Formula One Grand Prix will be held on Sunday April 30, 2023 - Sergei Grits/AP

Course marshals extinguish an engine fire in a car of Alpine driver Pierre Gasly of France during a practice session at the Baku circuit, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Friday, April 28, 2023. The Formula One Grand Prix will be held on Sunday April 30, 2023 – Sergei Grits/AP

11:35 AM

FP1 – Classification

  1. VER 1:42.315

  2. LEC +0.037

  3. PER +0.139

  4. SAI +0.584

  5. NOR +0.810

  6. DEV +1.099

  7. STR +1.140

  8. ALO +1.245

  9. ALB +1.313

  10. ZHO +1.433

  11. HAM +1.483

  12. PIA +1.665

  13. BOT +1.695

  14. TSU +1.822

  15. HUL +2.008

  16. SAR +2.585

  17. RUS  +2.767

  18. OCO  +3.640

  19. GAS +4.006

  20. MAG +5.183

11:33 AM

FP1 – Perez stays third

0.139s off Verstappen and that ends the session.

11:32 AM

FP1 – Sainz stays fourth but improves slightly

Perez is within a tenth of Verstappen with one sector left…

11:32 AM

FP1 – Verstappen goes fastest

0.037s faster than Leclerc…

What can Sainz and Perez do?

11:31 AM

FP1 – Leclerc goes fastest!

Right at the death, but will he stay there? It’s a good time on the softs, 0.248s faster than Perez’s previous best. Verstappen on a lap out there, Perez on an in lap or a cool-down before another hot lap. He has enough time to set another lap if he wants to.

11:29 AM

FP1 – Perez improves again

A 1:42.600 to go 0.144s faster than Leclerc. Russell does come onto the track, albeit on the medium tyres. OK.

Perez leads Leclerc, Verstappen, Sainz, Norris, De Vries, Stroll, Albon and Hamilton. Tsunoda rounds out the top 10.

11:28 AM

FP1 – Verstappen improves but doesn’t beat Perez

Nor Leclerc for that matter. His time is 0.194s off his team-mate. Both Mercedes cars are still in the garage. Russell has not started his soft tyre run despite that earlier tweet. Hamilton has not used the soft, either.

11:26 AM

FP1 – Sainz goes third

Norris fourth. Leclerc on a good lap, too, fastest in sector one. He crosses the line in second, 0.093s behind Perez and splitting the Red Bulls now, bumping Sainz and Norris down a spot each.

11:23 AM

FP1 – Hamilton goes fourth, but on the mediums

…and on his 12th lap on that run. 1.147s off Perez’s time.

Russell, meanwhile, is about to begin a lap on the softs:

11:22 AM

FP1 – Perez going well

Purple in sector two as well. Has he got the pace? Yes, he beats him by nearly four tenths. Alexander Albon in third, but nearly a full second adrift of Perez. Leclerc, meanwhile, goes straight on at turn two and has to abort his lap.

11:21 AM

FP1 – Perez beats Verstappen’s sector one time

Verstappen crosses the line with a 1:43.042s, but what does Perez do?

11:20 AM

FP1 – Piastri improves to seventh

0.724s off Verstappen. Verstappen goes fastest of anyone in S1 on a new set of soft tyres.

11:18 AM

FP1 – Not long to go…

13 minutes, in fact, and the qualifying simulations are about to begin. Hamilton improving on a set of mediums, he moves up to ninth, 1.3s or so off Verstappen’s ultimate pace.

11:16 AM

FP1 – Order and gaps with 15 mins left

  1. VER 1:43.834

  2. STR +0.219

  3. PER +0.282

  4. SAI +0.400

  5. DEV +0.417

  6. LEC +0.586

  7. ALO +0.758

  8. RUS +1.248

  9. ALB +1.496

  10. NOR +1.510

  11. TSU +1.639

  12. HAM +1.698

  13. HUL +2.097

  14. OCO +2.121

  15. BOT +2.428

  16. GAS +2.487

  17. SAR +2.681

  18. ZHO +2.920

  19. PIA +3.309

  20. MAG +3.664

11:14 AM

FP1 – Alonso told to stop

His DRS is not working.

11:11 AM

FP1 – Yellow flags

Leclerc has stopped on track at turn seven but gets going again soon after. Not sure yet if there’s any damage to his Ferrari.

He went straight on at turn seven, backing out of the corner. No damage to the car but his tyres might need changing after locking up.

11:08 AM

FP1 – Hamilton has improved further

To a 1:46.724, but he remains down the order and in 15th. De Vries gets up to fourth with a handy lap on the medium tyres, 1.032s off Verstappen. Alonso backs off on his hot lap after encountering traffic.

11:06 AM

FP1 – 25 mins remain

Fernando Alonso has moved up into fourth, just over a second behind Verstappen. Leclerc between the lead Aston Martin and the Red Bulls and in third.

11:04 AM

FP1 – More bad news for Alpine

Ocon has retired from the session, with his car dismantled and on the stands… perhaps they were worried about the same issue that affected Gasly.

11:03 AM

FP1 – Hamilton gets a bit of a tow from Russell at the end of his lap

He crosses the line 3.608s behind Verstappen, and in 14th place.

11:01 AM

FP1 – Session resumes

It was a loss of hydraulic pressure for Gasly and potentially a leak, which caused the fire. A fair few drivers will be keen to get laps on the board, Lewis Hamilton perhaps number one in that regard as he harries Logan Sargeant’s Williams around on their out laps.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car in the pit lane during the first free practice session at the F1 Grand Prix circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan, Friday, April 28, 2023. The Formula One Grand Prix will be held on Sunday April 30, 2023 - Darko Bandic/AP

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car in the pit lane during the first free practice session at the F1 Grand Prix circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan, Friday, April 28, 2023. The Formula One Grand Prix will be held on Sunday April 30, 2023 – Darko Bandic/AP

10:58 AM

FP1 – Still no action

32 mins remaining on the clock, but I think a resumption will be taking place shortly. Yes, that is confirmed as a near-immediate resumption.

10:50 AM

FP1 – Order and lap times under the red flag

  1. VER 1:43.834

  2. PER +0.282

  3. LEC +0.771

  4. SAI +1.805

  5. OCO +2.121

  6. ALO +2.268

  7. BOT +2.428

  8. NOR +2.460

  9. GAS +2.487

  10. DEV +2.598

  11. ALB +2.788

  12. ZHO +2.920

  13. STR +3.578

  14. HUL +3.611

  15. MAG +3.664

  16. PIA +3.754

  17. SAR +3.807

  18. TSU +4.004

  19. RUS +4.080

  20. HAM (no time)

10:48 AM

FP1 – RED FLAG

Maybe the red flag was because Kevin Magnussen’s Haas is stranded at turn one. So far, a chaotic session. What happened to Magnussen? Did he lose power? Not entirely sure but he went straight on at turn one.

43 minutes left on the clock, but in practice they do not stop the clock. This is not what any driver will want with such limited practice running.

10:46 AM

FP1 – The rear of Gasly’s car is aflame

Well, you can see a few flames licking around the back end of the car. He’s still trying to get the car back to the pitlane and has been told not to shift but this will be the end of his session.

Smoke billows out of a car of Alpine driver Pierre Gasly of France during a practice session at the Baku circuit, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Friday, April 28, 2023. The Formula One Grand Prix will be held on Sunday April 30 - Sergei Grits/AP

Smoke billows out of a car of Alpine driver Pierre Gasly of France during a practice session at the Baku circuit, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Friday, April 28, 2023. The Formula One Grand Prix will be held on Sunday April 30 – Sergei Grits/AP

And they have red flagged the session… but Gasly is still going. Nope, he has now stopped. 

10:44 AM

FP1 – Hamilton’s braking problem has been fixed

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen has gone top of the timesheets again with a 1:43.834, just a few tenths ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez. Leclerc then leads Ocon, Sainz, ALonso and Devries.

10:42 AM

FP1 – Ah, it’s a puncture for Tsunoda

The carcass looks like it’s going to fully leave the wheel rim. Probably from a tap from the wall. He’ll do well to get it back to the pit lane with the remainder of the carcass on. He lost the rear end at turn three and whacked the wall with his rear-right wheel.

 Yuki Tsunoda of Japan driving the (22) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT04 in the Pitlane with a puncture during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on April 28, 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan. - Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Yuki Tsunoda of Japan driving the (22) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT04 in the Pitlane with a puncture during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on April 28, 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan. – Dan Mullan/Getty Images

10:40 AM

FP1 – Yellow flags

Tsunoda appears to stop on track but gets going shortly after.

10:39 AM

FP1 – Top 10 so far

Everyone has set a lap time but Lewis Hamilton.

  1. DEV

  2. NOR

  3. LEC

  4. ALO

  5. PER

  6. PIA

  7. OCO

  8. BOT

  9. TSU

  10. VER

10:38 AM

FP1 – Sainz clips the wall at turn five

Not sure there’s much damage to the car, but there is some damage to the wall’s sponsor boards. He’ll probably drop back into the pit lane for a check after that.

Hamilton already has gone back to the pit lane. Russell is also complaining about his brakes and a lack of deceleration which is, really, the primary purpose of a brake.

10:36 AM

FP1 – Early days but it’s already a Red Bull 1-2

Perez with a 1:47.491, 0.454s ahead of team-mate Verstappen. Hamilton, meanwhile, complains of a long and «passive» brake pedal. Not what you want anywhere, but particularly here.

10:35 AM

FP1 – Yellow flags

Only briefly, I assume because someone went straight on at one of the 90-degree turns. Not sure who it was. Russell says the track is very slippy at the moment. Presumably because of a lack of grip rather than any spillage.

10:33 AM

FP1 – Hamilton ventures onto track

And that makes it all 20 cars on track.

10:32 AM

FP1 – 59 mins left

A good half of the field line up at the end of the pit lane and off they go.

10:30 AM

GREEN LIGHT: FP1 begins

60 minutes long, it is, as usual.

10:27 AM

Right, the first (and only!) practice session is about to begin

Might be a busy one…

10:23 AM

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell confident Baku chaos could favour Mercedes

Seven-time world champion says he is unconcerned with rumours that Charles Leclerc may have held talks with his team principal Toto Wolff. Read more here. 

10:17 AM

Raw pace ranking after three rounds

This is, in essence, how well a team has performed in qualifying trim so far this season.

10:11 AM

Have F1 missed a trick with this sprint shootout?

Not the introduction of it so much as the format for it. They’ve tweaked the normal three-part qualifying elimination format every so slightly. I would have backed something a bit more radical, or at least something that is different. Maybe turn it into an actual shoot-out and have each driver set one timed lap. Any mistakes and you’re done.

They had that back in the early 2000s. If they are going to experiment, it is a good thing, but this was an opportunity to experiment with different formats and it was missed. Probably because the teams would never accept it. Ah well.

10:05 AM

Remaining rounds this season

10:00 AM

Current constructor standings after three rounds

Every team has scored at least a point so far. McLaren are doing well to be in fifth given the poor start to the season they’ve had. They have been helped out by a few other teams’ misfortune, though. A flying start for Aston Martin, who have 10 more points already than they scored during the entirety of last year.

09:54 AM

Current driver standings: Top 10

09:42 AM

More on the change of format for this weekend

It remains to be seen how effective the inducements are. There are still doubts drivers will risk too much as the points on offer remain unchanged, and the potential for costly crash damage is greater.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said in Melbourne it was “absolutely ludicrous” to be doing the first sprint race of the year in a street race like Azerbaijan, which has become known for dramatic, action-packed races, considering the potential impact both on spares and their budget sheet.

“I think from a spectacle point of view, from a fan point of view, it’s probably going to be one of the most exciting sprint races of the year.

Read more from Tom Cary on the changes here. 

09:39 AM

A reminder of the session start times

Friday, April 28

Practice 1: 10:30am BST
Qualifying (for Sunday’s race): 2pm

Saturday, April 29

Sprint shootout/qualifying: 9.30am
Sprint: 2.30pm

Sunday, April 30

Race: Noon BST

09:07 AM

Good morning F1 fans

Welcome to our coverage for first practice and later qualifying for the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. F1 has had an unwanted enforced near month-long gap since the chequered flag fell on the Australian Grand Prix at the start of this month, and you would expect some excitement at the sport’s return. Obviously.

Still, the outlook for the season is not looking especially exciting at the front, with Red Bull and Max Verstappen by far the superior package. The only hope of a title fight is Sergio Perez doing something most people think he is incapable of and challenging his Dutch team-mate. It’s doable over a race or two… but over a season? Very unlikely, save for some bad luck befalling Verstappen. In any case, he already trails Verstappen by 15 points after the opening three rounds.

Still, there are a few teams with upgrades for Baku, it is a sprint race weekend which adds some drama and jeopardy into things (more on that shortly) and some races at this track have been chaotic. Plus, the fight behind Red Bull is pretty close and intriguing, with the resurgent Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso in particular ones to take note of.

Fernando Alonso of Spain and Aston Martin F1 Team looks on in the Paddock during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on April 27, 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan. - Alex Pantling/Getty Images

Fernando Alonso of Spain and Aston Martin F1 Team looks on in the Paddock during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on April 27, 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan. – Alex Pantling/Getty Images

The biggest talking point since the last race, however, has been the revised 2023 sprint race weekend format. Previously qualifying for the sprint race was done on Friday, with Saturday’s sprint result setting the grid for Sunday’s race. The changes, only confirmed earlier this week, now mean that the sprint is almost a standalone race with its own qualifying session and own race.

In short: today we have first practice and then the full hour-long, three-part qualifying which sets the race for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Tomorrow we have a shortened three-part qualifying session which sets the grid for Sunday afternoon’s sprint. The top eight of that sprint are awarded points, but it now has no bearing on Sunday’s race. There are some complications around grid penalties and so on, too.

Is it better? That remains to be seen, but it at least sacrifices that silly and pointless practice session we used to have on Saturday before the sprint race. It takes out some of the uncertainty with the sprint no longer setting the grid for Sunday’s race but maybe it makes more racing sense?

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