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Formula 1
Azerbaijan GP
F1 Azerbaijan GP Live Commentary and Updates – Sprint Quali & Race
Saturday's action from the fourth round of the 2023 Formula 1 season
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F1 is in Baku for round four, with Charles Leclerc beating the Red Bulls to pole for Sunday's race yesterday afternoon.
Today will follow a different format, with a shorter sprint qualifying 'shootout' for this afternoon's sprint race.
It means drivers will get thrown right into competitive action this morning without a practice session to warm up.
Lando Norris and Yuki Tsunoda won’t be able to participate in the third part of sprint qualifying after taking a tyre gamble in qualifying.
The sprint shootout starts at 9.30am BST, with the sprint race getting underway at 2.30pm BST.
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Under the virtual safety car, Leclerc leads from Perez with Russell in third having got ahead of Verstappen who wasn't happy with the Brit for his overtake when they made contact.
Pit stop
Replays show Tsunoda clattered the wall without any major issue before it, as he limps back to the pits on three wheels.
Safety car
Tsunoda is out of the sprint, there is debris on track and the tyre is still rolling on the racing line as the virtual safety car is called.
Yellow flag
Tsunoda has lost his right-rear wheel at Turn 15 - and his tyre is rolling down the middle of the track!
Lights green
Leclerc makes a strong start to keep the lead ahead of Perez, as Verstappen clips wheels with Russell at Turn 2 and then concedes the place to the Mercedes.
Leclerc takes his place in pole position as the rest of the grid lines up behind him... seconds out from lights out.
Leclerc isn't hanging around leading the formation lap, trying to get as much heat and energy into his medium tyres for the start.
Green flag
The formation lap is under way. Here we go.
So, keep an eye on Norris and Bottas throughout this race, they will have the quicker tyre at the start but then will be hanging on for performance in the closing laps.
Tyre news: Mediums, and lots of them. Everyone apart from Norris (10th) and Bottas (15th) is on the mediums, while that pair start on softs.
In the early years of racing in Baku, there was a theory that if there was a chaotic F2 race it meant for a safe F1 race. Given only half the F2 grid saw the chequered flag earlier, we'll see if the old adage rings true.
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The drivers are getting strapped into their cockpits with just under 10 minutes to go until lights out.
The key to this sprint will actually be the opposite in name: endurance. The sprint race is 17 laps but throughout practice and qualifying in Baku nobody got close to completing that number of consecutive laps. So they are all going into the sprint partially blind.
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Quick refresher on the sprint races for 2023: This is the first sprint race weekend of six this year. The winner bags eight points, with the points being handed out down to eighth place. But unlike last year, the finishing order doesn't decide the grid for the grand prix.
Given the top speed of the Red Bulls, can Leclerc really keep them behind him? It is a tall order, something the Ferrari driver eluded to both yesterday and today.
Those changes won't impact the front half of the grid, so for both the sprint race and grand prix start it'll be Leclerc on pole against two charging Red Bulls directly behind him.
The other key news post-qualifying is that Ocon will start both the sprint race and the grand prix from the pitlane due to Alpine taking the car out of parc ferme conditions to make changes. The French driver was due to start from 13th in the sprint.
The US driver should be back in action with a repaired Williams for tomorrow's grand prix. But after an encouraging start to his Baku weekend, this will be a tough one to watch from the sidelines.
The F1 drivers are leaving pitlane to head to the grid - but there will only be 19 of them taking part in the sprint, as Sargeant has been forced out due to damage sustained to his Williams during sprint qualifying.
Green flag
Afternoon one and all! It is Sprinty McSprint time, are you excited?
So, Leclerc gets the honour of wearing the special Pirelli cap for becoming the inaugural sprint shootout winner - just what he always wanted. We're heading off for a bit now, but join us again at around 2:15pm BST to find out if Leclerc can keep the Red Bulls behind in the sprint. Bye for now.
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Here's the full report from another entertaining qualifying session at Baku: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-azerbaijan-gp-sprint-shootout-report/10462311/
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"We need to be realistic - until now, we've been on the backfoot in the race but hopefully we have a good surprise," says Leclerc. He's clearly not getting carried away by this double pole.
But there will be some disappointment at Aston as Alonso and Stroll are only eighth and ninth amid those continued DRS woes.
So double pole for Leclerc! More joy for Ferrari (or one side of the garage at least) while Russell will be pleased with fourth after his Q1 elimination yesterday.
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"Sorry for Carlos," says Leclerc, who brought out the yellow flags and caused Sainz to be delayed - costing the Spaniard in his battle with Russell for fourth.
Leclerc lost the rear heading into Turn 5 and nudged into the wall, doing less damage than Sargeant earlier - so there shouldn't be any concerns about gearbox penalties for this one!
Great effort from Russell as he climbs to fourth to just pip Sainz. And Albon is seventh ahead of both Astons.
Yellow flag
Oh and Leclerc is in the wall at Turn 5! But it doesn't matter as Perez and Verstappen stay second and third.
Perez does not improve in the first sector and neither is Verstappen! This is looking good for Leclerc and Ferrari.
Right, this is it - one final flier. One final battle for pole this weekend!
And we've got some nonsense here as Perez is massively backing the pack up on this cooldown lap.
The drivers might now go for a cooldown lap before one more attempt, if they have enough fuel for that.
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"Lost all the rear in the middle sector," says Verstappen, as he just keeps it out of the barriers on that lap.
Stopwatch
And Leclerc goes to provisional pole! It's a 1m41.697s to go two tenths quicker than Perez. Sainz is only fourth.
Albon is currently fifth ahead of both Astons, which are still struggling with DRS.
Stopwatch
Perez sets the opening effort and it's a 1m41.876s that's three tenths quicker than Verstappen! Not a great lap for the world champion, losing out in the middle sector.
Verstappen is purple in sector one but we will have to wait for the Ferraris to set their times.
By: Autosport Staff
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