The first sprint classification in the history of the Formula 1specific to order the grid of the sprint race this Saturday in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, It has been as brief as it was intense. charles leclerc (Ferrari) has confirmed that he is the fastest driver in Baku and after this Friday he scored his third consecutive pole at this circuit for Sunday’s race, today he has added his first sprint pole. The Monegasque, who crashed after setting his time, will open the grid for the two races this weekend in Baku. His final accident ruined the lap of Carlos Sainz, who had to settle for fifth position on the grid, while Fernando Alonso has been relegated to eighth position with his Aston Martin.
maximum intensity
SQ1 has ended early due to an accident involving Williams’ rookie Logan Sargeant, who went against the wall with 25 seconds to go, causing the first red flag of the session. The American, who already had time to move on to the next round, took an unnecessary risk and was unable to avoid the impact at high speed, destroying his car and eliminating himself for SQ2. For times, Zhou, Bottas, Tsunoda, Gasly and De Vries have not passed the round. Carlos Sainz, who suffered on the Baku track on Friday, also started with problems this Saturday and when he had already set the time that placed him in Q3, he went to the escape. max verstappen He has overcome the sieve with the best time (1.42.417), with Leclerc at just 83 thousandths and Sainz, at 4 tenths. Alonso has also gotten into the fight for pole position and has also given slipstream to his teammate Stroll so that Aston Martin had two tricks in the decisive section. The regulations for this Saturday’s sprint classification specify that in Q3 all participating cars need a set of new soft tires, something that neither Tsunoda nor Norris had after Friday’s time trial, so in case of reaching the final fight for the sprint pole, they would have been left out anyway. The Japanese has fallen in the first round, but the British has managed to reach the end without being able to enter the battle.
The sprint qualy, reduced to just 8 minutes, started with only nine riders on the track, including the two Spaniards Alonso and Sainz. The margin was for two fastest lap attempts, so all the favorites have come out to ‘knife’. Like on Friday, Leclerc and Verstappen seemed like the two great candidates. Max made a mistake and lost a lot in the second sector and Pérez set the best provisional time, but Leclerc has returned to ‘steal the wallet’ from the Red Bull and has also taken the provisional sprint pole (1,41,697) in the absence of a last attempt.
Leclerc has finished on the wall, but no one has been able to beat his time, so he will open the grid for the two races this weekend in Baku. In the sprint race this afternoon he will do it ahead of Sergio Pérez and Verstappen.