Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari was a cut above the rest once again as he was fastest in the sprint shootout, meaning pole position for the 2023 Azerbaijan GP sprint race.
The first outing of F1’s new format saw a flurry of activity towards the end of the session, with Leclerc also putting his Ferrari in the wall.
The Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were unable to find an answer for the pace of Leclerc’s Ferrari.
McLaren’s Lando Norris, though making it through to SQ3, was unable to take part in the final shootout because he never kept a new set of soft tyres from Friday, which were mandatory to take part in the top 10 shootout.
Things looked grim for Pierre Gasly in the Alpine retired from SQ1 with another issue with his car, after a horrendous day on Friday.
The red flag was also brought out towards the end of SQ1 when Logan Sargeant in the Williams hit the wall at Turn 15.
F1 2023 Azerbaijan GP – Sprint Shootout Results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:41.697 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.147 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | +0.290 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.555 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +0.590 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.805 |
| 7 | Alex Albon | Williams | +1.149 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +1.313 |
| 9 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +1.367 |
| 10 | Lando Norris | McLaren | N/A |
| 11 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | Eliminated in SQ2 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | Eliminated in SQ2 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | Eliminated in SQ2 |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | Eliminated in SQ2 |
| 15 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | Eliminated in SQ2 |
| 16 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | Eliminated in SQ1 |
| 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | Eliminated in SQ1 |
| 18 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | Eliminated in SQ1 |
| 19 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | Eliminated in SQ1 |
| 20 | Nyck de Vries | AlphaTauri | Eliminated in SQ1 |
