Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari SF-23 leads at the start of the race. 30.04.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 4, Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Baku Street Circuit, Azerbaijan, Race Day.
Sergio Perez became the first Formula 1 driver to win two races in Azerbaijan as he beat Max Verstappen in another dominant Red Bull showing in 2023.
But which drivers impressed on the challenging streets of Baku and who failed to deal with the pressure in the Land Of Fire?
Max Verstappen – 7.5
Sprint: Qualified: P3, Race: P3
Grand Prix: Qualified: P2, Race: P2
Verstappen arrived in Baku already cutting a disgruntled figure at the prospect of a revised Sprint format making its debut, with his agitated mood worsening after an early clash with George Russell in the Sprint race.
While he was unfortunate to sustain damage that hugely impacted his potential speed, the Dutchman arguably could have played the percentages better. He would have avoided that possibility altogether if he had nailed his qualifying runs in SQ3 to beat Perez.
Regardless, set for another victory on Sunday after propelling into the lead by Lap 4, the Safety Car intervened six laps later came when he had already pitted, dropping him down to third.
Despite his remonstrations post-race, it was Verstappen’s dwindling pace compared to his team-mate that instigated his stop. The telltale sign that he wasn’t at his dazzling best came when he was unable to trouble Perez at any stage in a straight fight.
Sergio Perez – 9.5
Sprint: Qualified P2, Race: P1
Grand Prix: Qualified: P3, Race: P1
Although Perez got fortunate to inherit Sunday’s race lead through the timing of the Safety Car playing favourably into his hands, this weekend was arguably his most complete in Red Bull colours.
Race winner Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull Racing celebrates on the podium. 30.04.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 4, Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Baku Street Circuit, Azerbaijan, Race Day.
The Mexican qualified within one-tenth of Verstappen on Friday and then usurped the two-time F1 title winner on Saturday morning, paving the way for his first-ever Sprint victory at the seventh attempt.
Perez debatably made his own luck in the grand prix, too, as it was his successful application of pressure that forced Red Bull into needing to pit Verstappen for new rubber. Once in the lead, he controlled things immaculately to demonstrate he had the speed to beat his team-mate comfortably.
Fernando Alonso – 8.5
Sprint: Qualified: P8, Race: P6
Grand Prix: Qualified: P6, Race: P4
Blighted by DRS problems up until the point of Sunday’s race, Alonso put in a marvellous lap to qualify P6, only a few tenths shy of ending up P4.
The former double World Champion was at his cunning best to take advantage of Sainz being indecisive to nip ahead of the Ferrari at Turn 6 upon the Safety Car restart.
Despite a valiant effort in the closing laps, Alonso was unable to challenge Leclerc to retain his podium streak in 2023.
Nonetheless, it’s hard to disagree with his statement that Aston Martin should be pleasantly delighted to have been so close to beating Ferrari on a weekend where it failed to exploit the full potential of its car.
Lance Stroll – 6
Sprint: Qualified: P9, Race: P8
Grand Prix: Qualified: P9, Race: P7
Having qualified within a tenth of Alonso, Stroll was thoroughly put in the shade on race day by his more illustrious partner.
While it’s no surprise that the Spaniard was unable to extract more on a slightly compromised weekend for Aston Martin, Stroll would have placed higher without encountering a snap at oversteer at Turn 16 which made him vulnerable to a pass from Hamilton down the start-finish straight.
Lewis Hamilton – 8.5
Sprint: Qualified: P6, Race: P7
Grand Prix: Qualified: P5, Race: P6
Considering he only edged into Q3 by the narrow margin of four-thousandths of a second, Hamilton produced a stunner of a final lap on Friday evening to end up fifth on the grid for Sunday’s race.
The seven-time World Champion was unfortunate to lose five places when the Safety Car timing conspired against him. However, he rebounded to pull passes on both George Russell and Stroll to wound up fifth.
His showing on Sprint Saturday wasn’t near as strong, but Hamilton extracted the most from his inconsistent W14 car when it really counted.
George Russell – 6.5
Sprint: Qualified: P4, Race: P4
Grand Prix: Qualified: P11, Race: P8
Russell’s weekend in Baku could be portrayed as a tale of two halves.
The Brit produced an excellent display across the board on Saturday to qualify and finish fourth – although his robust attack on Max Verstappen on the first lap was slightly questionable and his excuse for the contact wasn’t entirely justifiable as Max argued.
Even despite a failure to reach Q3 on Friday by the slim margin of 0.004s, a well-timed Safety Car brought him into play, but a scruffy restart lap then cost him two places to both Stroll and his team-mate.
Charles Leclerc – 9.5
Sprint: Qualified: P1, Race: P2
Grand Prix: Qualified: P1, Race: P3
Following his disastrous start to the campaign, Leclerc was immediately on top form in Azerbaijan to put together a scintillating final run in Q3 to eclipse the Red Bulls for pole position before repeating that achievement with another mesmeric lap in the inaugural Sprint Shootout.
Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari celebrates his pole position in qualifying parc ferme. 28.04.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 4, Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Baku Street Circuit, Azerbaijan, Qualifying Day.
Expectedly, Ferrari was unable to fight Red Bull over a longer distance, but Leclerc managed the race perfectly to land his first podium of the year. The Monegasque caressed his tyres when needed and then reaped the benefits of his patient approach to unleash added pace at the end to hold off Alonso in the contest for third.
A really mature and measured race drive that was undeniably every bit as magnificent as his earlier qualifying exploits.
Carlos Sainz – 5.5
Sprint: Qualified: P5, Race: P5
Grand Prix: Qualified: P4, Race: P5
Having not optimised his set-up in practice and subsequently battling rear-end instability, Sainz openly admitted he was in damage limitation mode all weekend.
While his team-mate nailed two benchmark times in the qualifying sessions, the Spaniard was 0.6s adrift with his best run.
The margin in the race between the pair expanded even larger as Sainz was caught napping by Alonso to relinquish fourth before proceeding to struggle massively on the hard compound to end up over a pit stop worth of time behind Leclerc by the end.
Lando Norris – 8.5
Sprint: Qualified: P10, Race: P17
Grand Prix: Qualified: P7, Race: P9
Despite delivering an exceptional lap to reach Q3 for the first time in 2023 and proceeding to end up a pleasing seventh on the grid, Norris was frustrated by not squeezing out the lap time he reckoned would have netted him fifth.
Nevertheless, with the pace of the top four teams in race trim being in another league, Norris was unlikely to hold onto those spots regardless. The Brit bided his time behind the two drivers who started on hard tyres, eventually making his way by Hulkenberg in the closing laps and being promoted to ninth once Ocon boxed ahead of the final tour.
His Sprint was undone by an ambitious decision to run the soft tyre, but a welcome return to qualifying in the upper midfield and the pace for points in the traditional formatted race marked a promising debut for McLaren’s extensive upgrade package.
Oscar Piastri – 6
Sprint: Qualified: P11, Race: P10
Grand Prix: Qualified: P10, Race: P11
Considering he was at odds with a bout of food poisoning all weekend long, Piastri did a decent job in the circumstances to remain in relatively competitive shape.
Unfortunately for the rookie, he lagged behind Norris continuously and was unable to follow him to the points as a lacklustre start dented his chances.
Pierre Gasly – 4
Sprint: Qualified: P19, Race: P13
Grand Prix: Qualified: P19, Race: P14
A hydraulic issue restricted Gasly to only completing a handful of laps in the sole practice session and that lack of track time shone through in qualifying as he found the barrier at Turn 3 in the dying embers of Q1.
That would set the tone for a nightmare rest of the weekend as he remained an anonymous figure, exiting SQ1 in the Sprint Shootout and being classified in the lower reaches of the midfield in the two races.
Esteban Ocon – 6.5
Sprint: Qualified: P13 (Started: Pit Lane), Race: P18
Grand Prix: Qualified: P12 (Started: Pit Lane), Race: P15
Gasly’s problem meant Ocon was withdrawn early from practice, yet the Alpine mainstay did well to maximise the machinery at his disposal to reach the second stage in both qualifying sessions.
With set-ups locked in at the close of FP1 due to the nature of the Sprint format, Alpine and Ocon chose to bring his car out of parc ferme to make the necessary changes to improve his race chances.
But on a weekend when the A523 was lacking speed and overtaking was a scarce sight, Ocon was left with too much to do to recover the lost ground from a pit lane start.
Valtteri Bottas – 5
Sprint: Qualified: P17, Race: P16
Grand Prix: Qualified: P14, Race: P18
Bottas was able to out-qualify his team-mate for the first time since the opening round, but it offered little solace as both Alfa Romeos exited the first segment.
A gamble to run the softs in the Sprint saw the ex-Mercedes driver rapidly lose grip and he swiftly tumbled down the order to P16.
Picking up damage on the opening lap on Sunday saw Bottas drop further behind to be the last classified runner, resigning him to bringing up the rear of the field for the third consecutive race.
Zhou Guanyu – 5.5
Sprint: Qualified: P16, Race: P12
Grand Prix: Qualified: P16, Race: DNF
Prior to his retirement Zhou was unable to pounce on a points finish in a race that was largely decided by the order that was set in Friday’s qualifying.
While other teams around them fluctuate performance-wise, Alfa Romeo’s continuous struggles, however, mean chances of a good result are at a premium for its two drivers.
Still, the Chinese participant continues to stack up favourably against a respected benchmark in his sophomore year.
Yuki Tsunoda: 8
Sprint: Qualified: P18, Race: DNF
Grand Prix: Qualified: P8, Race: P10
After missing out on crucial run time in the sole practice session of the weekend, Tsunoda strung together a fabulous qualifying hour to haul his AT04 into Q3.
While the Japanese racer would be hamstrung by a red flag in the Sprint Shootout that then culminated in him retiring from the Sprint on Lap 1 after a touch with the wall, Tsunoda maintained position amongst a close midfield group to scoop the final points place when the long-running Ocon and Hulkenberg eventually pitted.
Nyck de Vries: 3
Sprint: Qualified: P20, Race: P14
Grand Prix: Qualified: P20, Race: DNF
Following a wretched run of races to open his debut full F1 campaign, crashing into the barrier on his first run in qualifying was not the mark de Vries needed to make.
Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Alfa Romeo F1 Team C43 and Nyck de Vries (NLD) AlphaTauri AT04 battle for position. 29.04.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 4, Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Baku Street Circuit, Azerbaijan, Sprint Day.
To the Dutchman’s credit, though, he produced a respectable performance in the Sprint by making some solid overtakes to come home P14 on the road. However, his Sunday lasted only 10 laps as a clip of the inside wall at Turn 6 broke his suspension and sent him into retirement.
Kevin Magnussen: 6
Sprint: Qualified: P14, Race: P11
Grand Prix: Qualified: P18, Race: P13
Having been unable to contest for a place in Q2 after a fuel pump problem reappeared in the final stages of Q1 and beaten again in second qualifying, Magnussen reversed the trend with superior pace in the shorter distance Sprint race.
That form carried into Sunday as Magnussen comfortably beat his pit lane-starting team-mate. But a P13 finish brought no reward, with the Dane left frustrated by not being able to utilise his full pace due to his lowly grid position compromising his race run.
Nico Hulkenberg: 5.5
Sprint: Qualified: P12, Race: P15
Grand Prix: Qualified: P17, Race: P17
After a string of three consecutive top-10 starts led to a six-point haul from the Australian Grand Prix, Hulkenberg’s stellar F1 comeback didn’t hit the same heights in Azerbaijan as Haas struggled.
Although he maintained his flawless qualifying streak, both Haas cars exited in Q1 on Friday and graining issues with his tyres prevented the German from making as much headway as Magnussen in the Sprint.
Changes to his car relegated him to a pit lane start for the grand prix, with his hopes of running long on the hard compound and profiting from a late Safety Car appearance not materialising.
Alex Albon: 7
Sprint: Qualified: P7, Race: P9
Grand Prix: Qualified: P13, Race: P12
Williams entered Azerbaijan optimistic of a fruitful performance around a Baku circuit with characteristics that played to the fundamental strengths of its slippery FW45 package, and once again it was Albon spearheading its challenge for points.
The Thai driver was bitterly disappointed to miss out on a place in Q3 in Friday qualifying – something he would achieve on Saturday – and it would put pay to his chances of notching a second points finish of the year as he ended up P12.
Logan Sargeant: 4
Sprint: Qualified: P15, Race: DNS
Grand Prix: Qualified: P15, Race: P16
The American’s time in Baku started strongly with a first visit to the second stage of an F1 qualifying session, soon repeating that feat in the Sprint Shootout.
However, his participation in Saturday’s second qualifying was thwarted by tagging the barrier at Turn 15, resulting in Williams electing to withdraw his car from the Sprint.
A forgetful race followed on Sunday, ending up P16 as he lamented the timing of the Safety Car deployment denting any diminishing hope he’d had of making progress up the order.
Once again, though, Sargeant’s race weekend was clouded by an unforced error; the pace is evidently there but the Florida-born driver needs to eradicate the mistakes, particularly with one of his two home races on the horizon next weekend.
Keyword: Motorsport Week’s F1 2023 Azerbaijan GP Driver Ratings