The Azerbaijan Sprint Race Weekend 2023 After what feels like forever, we have finally made it to the Azerbaijan race weekend. With a new sprint race format, it was sure to be a weekend like no other. New Sprint Format On the 25th of April, just 3 days before the race weekend began, the FIA announced that they would be changing the format of the entire sprint weekend. Although there had been talks about this happening for a while, I don't think anyone presumed that it would take place in this way. Friday Following the new sprint race format, Friday would now consist of Free Practice 1 and Qualifying. Free Practice 1 is now the only practice session that will take place throughout the whole sprint weekend, meaning that after this session, all other times cars are on track will either be under qualifying or during the actual races. The qualifying session on Friday is qualifying for the main race on Sunday, and this is where it needs to be clarified. This means that the sprint race on Saturday is entirely irrelevant to the race on Sunday. Fans have mixed opinions on this, those who already don’t like the sprint races
aren’t too impressed, as well as this, lots of people are still working on Fridays when the qualifying takes place, making it harder for them to watch the session. Saturday The Saturday is now officially a full sprint day, with the first session of the day being a “Sprint Shootout” and the second session of the day being the actual sprint race. The new Sprint Shootout consists of three shorter qualifying sessions, with Q1 being 12 minutes, Q2 being 10 minutes, and Q3 being 8 minutes. Also in these sessions, in Q1 and Q2 drivers must use the medium tyre compound, and in Q3, drivers must use the soft tyre compound. The Sprint Race will operate as normal, apart from the fact that the result of the race doesn’t have any effect on the Sunday grid. Points will still be awarded to the top 8 drivers. The fact that the sprint does not affect the Sunday grid does make it slightly redundant and also puts the cars and drivers through a lot of pressure throughout the weekend. Another thing that people have been pointing out is that the teams only have one practice session to get a feel for the car, and then as soon as the car leaves the garage for qualifying, Parc Ferme rules are implemented. This means that all suspension set-up sheets and components must be frozen. This leaves teams and drivers little to no time for adjustments and if you are struggling in practice 1, chances are you’ll be struggling all weekend. Sprint Shootout The first-ever sprint shootout was interesting, to say the least. With the first round of sprint qualifying being red-flagged due to a crash from Logan Sargeant, we lost both the Alfa Romeos, both Alpha Tauri’s And Pierre Gasly, whose car was still struggling after what had already been a turbulent weekend for him. If the session had not been red-flagged, I would imagine that the bottom would look very different. Going into sprint qualifying 2, although he qualified, Sargent was not able to compete due to the amount of damage to his car. After a clean 10 minutes of fast laps, we eventually lost both the Haas, Esteban Ocon, and Oscar Piastri. Piastri lost the final qualifying place to his teammate, but only 0.032 seconds. Even though Lando Norris qualified for sprint qualifying 3, he couldn’t compete. As I mentioned earlier, In SQ3, drivers are only allowed to use the soft compound tyre, but McLaren had no soft tyres left. This meant that Norris couldn’t even attempt the qualifying and he would be starting 10th on the grid. Alex Albon managed to fight his way into SQ3 and proved that on a one-lap pace, the Williams can be very quick. As usual, the Red Bull was very fast, especially Perez, but as well all know, Charles Leclerc is an impeccable qualifier, well he is until he throws his car into a wall. Luckily for Charles, neither of the Red Bulls could match his pace, meaning that once again, he would be starting from pole position.
Sprint Race Our first sprint race of the season did not disappoint, with 19 cars on the grid due to Logan Sargeant’s Williams stuck in the garage after his crash, the first lap commenced. Instantly we were watching battles between George Russell and Max Verstappen. The pair collided and it's safe to say Max was not happy at all claiming he was left no space. Despite the minimal damage to his car, Verstappen was able to continue the race with Russell now in front of him. Max and George had a very intense conversation after the race which included some choice words from Verstappen, and many insults were thrown at Russell. Yuki Tsunoda was already having a rough weekend, which was not improved by the fact he had a car failure which sent him flying into the wall and puncturing his tyre. With debris and a tire on the track, a full safety car was brought out to ensure that the marshalls could clear the track as efficiently and safely as possible. Upon the restart controlled by Charles Leclerc, who was still leading from his pole position, Max managed to gain his position back from Russell. Unfortunately for Ferrari, the straight-line speed of the Red Bull was just too fast for him to keep Perez at bay, as he flew past and into first place. Formula 1 fans know that Perez is the King Of The Streets, and he has once again proved that in Baku, winning the sprint race with a 4.5-second lead from the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. Max Verstappen finished in third, less than a second behind Charles, showing that even with a damaged floor, he is still a force to be reckoned with. Final Thoughts It's difficult to say whether I believe the new sprint race format will be positive or negative for the sport at this time. The fact that the sprints have no impact on the actual race on Sunday does make them pretty much redundant, although we get to see more racing. What do you think about the new format? I’ll see you in Austria for the next Sprint weekend! Written By Johan Habimana