Mainly cloudy. Dry. Air +17С, rail +22…23С
In 2023, Formula 1 continued to experiment with the sprint weekend format and decided to separate the sprint from the main events. For the first time, the new format was tested in Baku, and some clarity was provided for Austria, allowing the use of rolled soft tires in the third session.
Sunday qualifying for Friday’s Grand Prix rounded off the day’s sports program with Max Verstappen winning, and Saturday’s sprint qualifying took place at noon after a rainy Formula 3 race. Conditions were very different from the day before.
The Sprint Shootout has an interesting format. Three sessions, as in regular qualifying, only shorter. 12 minutes – the first, 10 minutes – the second and eight minutes – the third.
Over the course of Friday’s qualifying, the stewards canceled the lap 47 times for crossing the boundaries of the track. In the evening, the riders and team representatives were critical, but the approach has not changed – in the Sprint Shootout, driving beyond the white line with four wheels led to the removal of time.
Through the first session the track dried up after the morning rain, almost everyone started on slicks, but Albon, Piastri and Sargent chose intermediate tyres, on the next lap they pitted for slicks.
Traffic became an even bigger problem than the day before, as the riders had fewer attempts.
The brakes on Sainz’s car smelled and he pulled into the pits to check. Zhou spun under braking – the tires were too cold. He, Verstappen, Perez, Hamilton and Sargent were cancelled.
The condition of the track improved every minute and the results also improved – it was necessary to circle quickly and accurately, stay within the boundaries of the track and avoid traffic. Not everyone succeeded.
The fastest time was set by Sainz with a lap time of 1:06.187. Zhou, Piastri, Hamilton, Bottas and Sargent were eliminated.
In the second session all left on rolled soft. Russell remained in the pits due to problems with the hydraulics, which the mechanics quickly tried to solve, but were unable to – George did not take to the track.
Verstappen showed the best time. Albon, Gasley, Tsunoda, de Vries and Russell did not qualify for the final.
In the final Sainz and Hulkenberg drove the new Medium, Verstappen, Leclerc and Norris drove the new Soft, the rest drove the rolled-up Soft – there were simply no new kits left.
Verstappen immediately set a new benchmark – 1:04.613, nobody managed to beat this time, except Max himself – 1:04.440 in the last attempt.
Verstappen and Perez will start today’s sprint from the front row, Norris and Hulkenberg from the second row, Sainz and Leclerc from the third row. Chance of rain.
Sprint qualifying results
| Pilot | Team | 1 session | 2 session | 3 session | ||||||
| m | Time | kr | m | Time | kr | m | Time | kr | ||
| 1. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 2 | 1:06.236 | 9 | 1 | 1:05.371 | 8 | 1 | 1:04.440 | 6 |
| 2. C. Perez | Red Bull | 14 | 1:06.924 | 9 | 8 | 1:05.836 | 8 | 2 | 1:04.933 | 6 |
| 3. L. Norris | McLaren | 9 | 1:06.723 | 9 | 5 | 1:05.699 | 8 | 3 | 1:05.010 | 6 |
| 4. N. Hulkenberg | hare | 3 | 1:06,548 | 9 | 10 | 1:06.091 | 8 | 4 | 1:05.084 | 6 |
| 5. K. Sainz | Ferrari | 1 | 1:06.187 | 5 | 2 | 1:05.434 | 7 | 5 | 1:05.136 | 6 |
| 6. Sch.Lecler | Ferrari | 15 | 1:07.061 | 10 | 4 | 1:05.673 | 8 | 6 | 1:05.245 | 5 |
| 7. F. Alonso | Aston Martin | 5 | 1:06.611 | 10 | 7 | 1:05.759 | 8 | 7 | 1:05.258 | 6 |
| 8. L. Walk | Aston Martin | 4 | 1:06.569 | 10 | 9 | 1:05.914 | 8 | 8 | 1:05.347 | 6 |
| 9. E. Okon | Alps | 10 | 1:06.840 | 10 | 3 | 1:05.604 | 8 | 9 | 1:05.366 | 6 |
| 10. K. Magnussen | hare | 6 | 1:06.629 | 9 | 6 | 1:05.730 | 8 | 10 | 1:05.912 | 6 |
| 11. A. Albon | Willems | 12 | 1:06.892 | 10 | eleven | 1:06.152 | 8 | |||
| 12.P Gasly | Alps | eleven | 1:06.873 | 10 | 12 | 1:06.360 | 6 | |||
| 13. Y. Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 13 | 1:06.896 | 10 | 13 | 1:06.369 | 8 | |||
| 14.N. deVries | AlphaTauri | 8 | 1:06.704 | 10 | 14 | 1:06.593 | 8 | |||
| 15.D Russell | Mercedes | 7 | 1:06.653 | 10 | 15 | – | 0 | |||
| 16.G Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 16 | 1:07.062 | 9 | ||||||
| 17. O. Piastri | McLaren | 17 | 1:07.106 | 10 | ||||||
| 18. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 18 | 1:07.282 | 9 | ||||||
| 19. V. Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 19 | 1:07.291 | 9 | ||||||
| 20. L. Sargent | Willems | 20 | 1:07.426 | 10 | ||||||
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
