The Red Bull driver overtook Charles Leclerc to claim first position in Baku, with championship leader Max Verstappen left furious after an early collision with George Russell.
Fundamentally, the upshot for the race itself is still the same: Max Verstappen is the favourite despite Charles Leclerc landing pole position, having navigated a tricky Australian Grand Prix to lead the F1 championship by 17 points over Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.
Lewis Hamilton bagged second place over three weeks ago to provide hope that Mercedes are back in regular podium contention, and he will start fifth on Sunday.
The narrow, angular streets of Baku regularly throw up entertaining races and this weekend’s new format should make for a fascinating F1 grand prix.
When is the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix?
The 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix takes place this weekend, with the race scheduled for Sunday, April 30.
What time is the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix?
The session schedule for the weekend is as follows (all times BST):
- First practice: Friday, 10.30am
- Grand prix qualifying: Friday, 2pm
- Sprint race qualifying: Saturday, 9.30am
- Sprint race: Saturday, 2.30pm
- Grand prix: Sunday, 12pm
How does a sprint race work?
The sprint race has been turned into a standalone feature, starting from this weekend. The official grand prix itself only got one practice session, on Friday morning before the traditional race qualifying later that day.
Saturday was entirely dedicated to the sprint, with a special ‘shootout’ qualifying early on featuring shorter times for each of the three sessions and mandated tyre compounds.
That decides the grid for the sprint race, which otherwise is as you were. The top eight will earn points in the usual half-hour event. The grid for Sunday’s grand prix will, unlike previous years, not be affected by the result.
How to watch the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix?
TV channel: The whole weekend will be shown live on Sky Sports with coverage of Sunday’s race starting at 10.30am on Sky Sports F1 and 11.55am on Main Event. Free highlights are on Channel 4 at 5.30pm.
Live stream: Sky Sports subscribers can watch live via the Sky Go app.
Live blog: You can follow all the action on Sunday with Standard Sport’s race blog.
Who is on pole for the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will be on pole for Saturday’s sprint race despite crashing on his final lap of the new shortened qualifying session.
1 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
2 Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
3 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
4 George Russell (Mercedes)
5 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
6 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
7 Alex Albon (Williams)
8 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
9 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
10 Lando Norris (McLaren)
11 Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
12 Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
13 Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
14 Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
15 Logan Sargeant (Williams)
16 Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
17 Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
18 Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri)
19 Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
20 Nyck de Vries (Alpha Tauri)
