2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

The **2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix** was a Formula 1.5 motor race held on 30 April 2023 at the Baku City Circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan.

## Background

The event was held across the weekend of 28–30 April 2023. It was the fourth round of the 2023 Formula 1.5 World Championship. The weekend was the first of six in the season to follow the sprint format.

### Weekend format

The event was the first in the season to feature a new format specifically adopted for those Grands Prix which include the additional sprint race. The format consisted of a single practice session on Friday, followed by the qualifying session which determined the grid for the Sunday's Grand Prix. On Saturday, a new qualifying session called "sprint shootout", in place of the former second practice session, was run, determining the grid for the sprint. The traditional Grand Prix took place on Sunday. The new sprint shootout qualifying was run shorter than the traditional qualifying: the first segment (SQ1) was 12 minutes, the second segment (SQ2) was 10 minutes, and the third segment (SQ3) was 8 minutes. In addition, new tyres were mandatory for each phase, with mediums for SQ1 and SQ2, and softs for SQ3.

### Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Pierre Gasly led the World Drivers' Championship with 43 points, 9 points ahead of his former teammate Yuki Tsunoda in second, and 10 ahead of Valtteri Bottas in third. Alpine, with 73 points, led the Constructors' Championship from Alfa Romeo and Haas, who were second and third with 56 and 55 points, respectively.

### Entrants

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.

### Tyres

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C3, C4, and C5 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.

### Track changes

The second DRS activation point was moved 100 metres (330 ft) farther ahead, being positioned 447 metres (1,467 ft) after turn 20.

## Qualifying

Qualifying was held on 28 April 2023 at 17:00 local time (UTC+4).

Following fire damage to his Alpine during the practice session, Pierre Gasly's car was repaired prior to qualifying. Zhou Guanyu spun at turn 1, but recovered the car; moments later, Nyck de Vries locked up at turn 3 and crashed into the wall, damaging his suspension and causing a red flag. He failed to post a lap time fast enough to clear the 107% time, but the stewards allowed him to race. Following the restart, Gasly hit the wall at the same corner de Vries crashed into earlier, causing a second red flag. Zhou, the two Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg, Gasly and de Vries were knocked out of the first session (Q1).

## Sprint Shootout

The sprint shootout was held on 29 April 2023 at 12:30 local time (UTC+4).

The first segment saw Zhou, Bottas, Tsunoda, Gasly and de Vries knocked out. About one minute before the session was to finish, Logan Sargeant, who was seventh, hit the wall with the rear of his car at turn 15, damaging the suspension and rear wing. Due to damage to his car, Sargeant could not continue participating in the second part of the session, which prevented him from setting a time in the second segment and left him in the 15th position in the session. Sargeant was later withdrawn from the sprint due to car damage. The session was red-flagged twenty-five seconds to go and ended prematurely. Following the first segment, Gasly's car was reported to suffer from an exhaust leak.

The second segment saw Piastri, Hülkenberg, Ocon, Magnussen and Sargeant knocked out. Due to a lack of new soft tyres, Norris could not participate in the third session, which meant Albon would take pole for the sprint race.

## Sprint

The sprint was held on 29 April 2023 at 17:30 local time (UTC+4).

As he went into turn 13, Yuki Tsunoda hit the wall, stripping the rear-left tyre off his AlphaTauri; the stricken tyre rolled down the track and debris was strewn around that corner, causing a virtual safety car to be called out. Tsunoda limped back into the pits to replace the tyre, though his damaged car was released in an unsafe condition with the rear wheels geometry being visibly off; he would retire the following lap. The virtual safety car period transitioned to a full safety car period to clear the debris left by Tsunoda's car. During this period, Esteban Ocon went into the pits to switch to a set of soft tyres.

## Race

The race was held on 30 April 2023 at 15:00 local time (UTC+4).

Alexander Albon and Oscar Piastri made contact coming into turn 2, inflicting damage to the Williams' wing. The contact was investigated and no further action was taken. Zhou Guanyu retired on lap 39 following mechanical problems.

### Pit lane safety issue

During the final lap of the race, an incident occurred where FIA-appointed personnel allowed photographers to cross into the fast lane of the pits to prepare to photograph the parc fermé and podium celebrations, even though the race was still active. Alpine driver Esteban Ocon was forced to avoid several photographers whilst coming in for his pit stop. As a result, the race stewards launched an investigation into the matter and, subsequently, recommended that changes be made to end of race parc fermé procedures to prevent a repeat of the occurrence.

## Championship Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Constructors' Championship standings

## External Links

1. ↑  Esteban Ocon qualified 4th, but he was required to start the race from the pit lane as the setup of the suspension was changed while the car was under parc fermé.
2. ↑  Nico Hülkenberg qualified 9th, but he was required to start the race from the pit lane as the setup of the suspension was changed while the car was under parc fermé.
3. ↑  Nyck de Vries failed to set a time within the 107% requirement. He was permitted to race at the stewards' discretion.
4. ↑  Lando Norris could not set a time during SQ3 as he did not have a new set of soft tyres which were mandatory for the segment.
5. ↑  Esteban Ocon qualified 5th, but he was required to start the sprint from the pit lane as the setup of the suspension was changed while the car was under parc fermé.
6. ↑  Logan Sargeant qualified 7th, but he did not take part in the sprint following a request made by the team to withdraw the car due to a crash. The drivers who qualified behind him gained one grid position each.
7. ↑  Logan Sargeant did not take part in the sprint following a request made by the team to withdraw the car due to a crash in the sprint shootout. The drivers who qualified behind him gained one grid position each
8. ↑  Includes one point for fastest lap.
9. ↑  Esteban Ocon was required to start the race from the pit lane as the setup of the suspension was changed while the car was under parc fermé.
10. ↑  Nico Hülkenberg was required to start the race from the pit lane as the setup of the suspension was changed while the car was under parc fermé.