THE FORMULA 1 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX IS READY TO DELIVER ONCE AGAIN!

The seventh Formula 1 race in Baku gets et to deliver another day of drama following yesterday’s inaugural sprint Saturday.

Baku, Azerbaijan (April 30th) It’s Race Day. The time for waiting is over as the FORMULA 1 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX 2023 returns to the Baku City Circuit, with the world’s greatest racing drivers set to battle it out on the high-speed street circuit that had delivered some of the most memorable F1 races in recent years.

Lights Out will be at 3pm local time with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on pole following Friday’s Qualifying session.

Yesterday, the Baku City Circuit hosted the inaugural ‘Sprint Saturday’ format F1’s history which saw Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez overtake Charles Leclerc to secure the first Sprint win of 2023 and collect eight world championship points on a day of fast and furious racing on the streets of the Azerbaijan capital. At the beginning of lap eight, Pérez used the benefit of DRS to pass the Ferrari into Turn 1 and to take the lead which he held to the chequered flag. Pole man Leclerc had to settle for second, while Max Verstappen came out of a fraught tussle with the Mercedes of George Russell to finish third — albeit with a damaged car.

Leclerc led Pérez away at the start, but behind the front pair Russell dived down the inside of Verstappen at Turn 2 causing the cars to touch and creating a large hole in the sidepod of the Red Bull. Russell completed his pass on Max at Turn 3, but the world champion was pretty disgruntled with the Englishman and made his feelings known on team radio, and then to Russell himself immediately after the race.

“I don’t know how he can damage my car and keep his position?” exclaimed Verstappen to his engineer. However, the Red Bull man was able to wrestle the place back from Russell following a Safety Car restart. The race had been neutralised on lap two after Yuki Tsunoda understeered into the wall at Turn 13 and damaged his right-rear suspension. After returning to the pits for a new tyre, the Japanese driver tried to continue racing, but the damage to his AlphaTauri was too severe.

When the Baku track was cleared of debris, the green flag flew at the start of lap six and Verstappen pounced on Russell at the restart, reclaiming P3 into Turn 1. Further back the second Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton lost fifth to Carlos Sainz and sixth to Fernando Alonso but stayed ahead of Alex Albon at the flag — with the Williams man scooping the final world championship point for eighth.

The 17-lap Sprint rounded off an exciting second day of competitive action for the FORMULA 1 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX 2023, which included a dramatic FIA Formula 2 race and the first-ever Sprint Shootout — a new, shorter format qualifying session to determine the grid for the afternoon race.

Unfortunately, it was the Williams of Logan Sargeant that came off worse in the Shootout when he lost control of his Williams at Turn 15. It led to a red-flag stoppage for his car to be recovered, but sadly for the American racer, despite the best efforts of his mechanics, his car was too badly damaged to compete in the rest of the day.

With Sargeant out, 14 cars took to the ten minute SQ2 qualifying session and this led to the elimination of the two Haas cars, Ocon and when Alonso gave his Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll a slipstream across the finish line, that promoted the Canadian into the top ten.

In the battle for Sprint pole, Leclerc led Pérez and Verstappen after the first run but dramatically, the Monégasque lost the rear of his Ferrari at Turn 5 and hit the wall head on. He was lucky to be able to continue — despite his broken front wing — and claimed his fourth consecutive pole position in Baku.

The Formula 2 race featured a spectacular finish with Ollie Bearman taking his maiden victory in the pitlane! After starting ninth on the grid, he avoided a late-race incident at Turn 1 that eliminated the leading drivers. Bearman managed to overtake his Prema team-mate Frederik Vesti just before the Safety Car was deployed and was just as surprised as the spectating fans when he was declared the victor.

The Safety Car was deployed on lap 14 of the 21-lap F2 race when Roy Nissany clattered into the wall at Turn 15. When the green flag flew on lap 19 for a three-lap dash to the flag, both the race leader Dennis Hauger and second-placed Victor Martins ran wide at the first corner and hit the barrier. Behind them Jehan Daruvala ran into the back of Martins tipping the Alpine Academy driver into the air. With the Safety Car on track once more, it avoided the incident at Turn 1 by leading the field through the pitlane on the final lap and past the chequered flag.  It was a bizarre finish to another topsy-turvy race on the streets of Baku — the place where you can always expect the unexpected…

Today’s busy on-track schedule includes both the 29-lap FIA Formula 2 Feature Race and the main event as the 51-lap FORMULA 1 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX 2023 gets underway at 3pm local time.

The FORMULA 1 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX 2023 is ready to deliver another spectacular battle on the streets of Baku!