Sunday Debrief: Chaos to end the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Red Bull show their dominance in Baku for the first sprint weekend of 2023 with another 1-2, as Perez wins in a dominat Baku race. An unproductive race with few battles on track, but a messy closing to the weekend.

Saturdays sprint:

Logan Sargeant was ruled out of the sprint after damaging his car during the Sprint Shootout during the first session, making his way into SQ2 but unable to compete. Alpine had made suspension changes to Ocon’s car under Parc Ferme conditions, the team facing a particularly tough weekend.

With 17 laps and 8 points up for grabs, 19 drivers lined up on the grid. Going into Turn 1 Leclerc held onto the lead, keeping Perez behind in P2. Meanwhile, behind the two front runners, a scrap between Verstappen and Russell for P3, which saw Russell take the lead going into Turn 3 with Verstappen complaining on the team radio, accusing Russel of barging his way through. Replays confirmed contact between the pair, with Verstappen now requesting an FIA investigation.

While the drama unfolded at the front of the grid, Tsunoda went into the walls at Turn 13 after making contact with his teammate De Vries. With debris and Tsunoda’s rear-right tyre on track, the Virtual Safety Car was brought out.

Tsunoda limped his car back into the garage, giving the mechanics a chance to make any repairs, as he re-joined the track the VSC turning into a Safety Car. Under the safety car, a unhappy Verstappen confirmed floor damage to his car, stating “I don’t understand how he can keep the position and he’s damaging my car”.

The race resumed on Lap 5, Leclerc holding onto his lead a second clear of Perez. Verstappen made his way back into P3 with damage to his car, Sainz behind holding onto P5 while Alonso pounces on Hamilton for P6.

Going into Lap 8 with DRS on the start/finish straight, Perez made a clean overtake on Leclerc, promoting himself to the lead of the race.

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Perez crossed the line to finish first, leading Leclerc and Verstappen to the final podium positions. Russel remained in P4, followed by Sainz, Alonso, Hamilton, and Stroll, who took the final points position for Albon during the latter part of the race.

Race day:

The cars lined up on the grid ahead of lights out, the grid being set by Fridays Qualifying session. Leclerc starting in pole, accompanied by the two Red Bulls of Verstappen and Perez behind him. Hamilton lined up in P5 behind the Ferrari’s and Red Bull’s, out qualifying his teammate for the first time this season, who started in P11.

Ocon and Hulkenberg both started their race from the pit lane after making changes to their cars under Parc Ferme conditions, both drivers starting on the hard tyres, with De Vries the only other driver to start on the hards.

Going into Turn 1, Leclerc held onto his lead, holding off the Red Bull’s, while at the back of the grid Magnussen faced damage to his front wing after struggling to avoid contact with the back of the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas.

By Lap 4, Verstappen had breezed his way past Leclerc with the help of DRS down the start/finish straight, his teammate Sergio Perez making the same move on Leclerc going into Turn 1 on Lap 6, both Red Bulls now leading the race.

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Gasly made an early pit stop on Lap 6, followed by Bottas on Lap 7 and Albon on Lap 8 – all three drivers pitting to go from the medium tyres on to the hard compound.

Graining to Lewis Hamilton’s tyres, after following Sainz closely, saw him come into the pits on Lap 10, dropping down to P13, followed by a yellow flag a lap later after De Vries went into the wall, leaving his car stuck on track. De Vries becoming the first of two retirements for the race – Zhou becoming the second retirement on Lap 38.

Verstappen pitting under the yellow flag in Sector 1 and 2, coming out in P7, giving the lead to Perez. The yellow flag shortly changing to a Safety car, where Perez pitted re-joining the track still in P1. The Ferrari’s and Aston Martins doing a double stack under the Safety car, while Russel got side by side with Stroll on his way into pits eager to get things going.

The race resumed on Lap 14, Stroll regained his place in P6 ahead of Russell going into Turn 1, Verstappen made the move on Leclerc for P2 at Turn 3. A few corners later, Alonso made an incredible move on Sainz going into Turn 6 in the battle for P4.

Hamilton shortly passing Russell for P7 in the other Mercedes on Lap 15, soon passing Stroll on Lap 20, the move made easy after Stroll understeered wide into Turn 16.

With one lap left and Ocon having not made a pit stop yet in the race, Alpine faced threats of disqualification, opting to bring Ocon in on the final lap. This proved to be a dangerous decision with Parc Ferme being set up and many people and photographers already setting up in the pit lane ahead of the podium celebrations – fortunately nobody was injured.

(Image credit: motorsport.com)

As the chaos unfolded in the pit lane, Perez took the chequered flag closing the gap between himself and his teammate Max Verstappen in the championship down to 6 points, and winning driver of the day. Verstappen crossed the line in second making it a fourth 1-2 for the team this season. Leclerc completed the podium in P3, giving Ferrari their first podium this season. Russell finished in 8th and denied Alonso the extra point, as Russel pits on Lap 50 for softs in pursuit of taking the fastest lap of the race.