As always, I’m here with our F1 report cards to give you the rundown on who aced the test and who ended up on the struggle bus from the first of six sprint weekends in 2023. So let’s dive into the top performers and the ones who struggled to keep up with the pack at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
There’s much to discuss, from Sergio Perez’s remarkable showing to Nyck de Vries’ challenging weekend, so let’s dive in.
Top of the class:
Sergio Perez – Q: 3rd | SQ: 2nd | S: 1st | R: 1st
Sergio Perez likes to hail himself as the king of the streets, and this weekend he certainly proved that to be true. He secured maximum points in the sprint on Saturday, and clinched victory on Sunday too. Of course, he did get a bit lucky on Sunday as the safety car put Verstappen on the back foot strategy-wise, but that’s all part of the game.
It’s clear that Perez is working hard to become more than simply a dutiful number two to Verstappen, and his performance this weekend certainly indicates that. He is confident he can win the championship, but for that, he’ll have to repeat a stellar performance like this more often, as Max is currently still the fan-favourite for the title. Then again, the season is young and anything can happen.
Charles Leclerc – Q: 1st | SQ: 1st | S: 2nd | R: 3rd
When glancing at the results, you wouldn’t expect Charles to find himself back near the top of the class, as in both the sprint and the race he only went backwards after bagging two excellent pole positions. None of that was to blame on Charles himself though. Despite Leclerc’s excellent performances on both Saturday and Sunday, the team is still playing catch-up to their rivals, particularly Red Bull.
They might have the pace to qualify well, but they simply don’t have the pace on the long runs to actually convert this into a win. Nevertheless, Leclerc’s outstanding performance in qualifying and sprint qualifying highlights his capabilities. Additionally, he left his teammate Carlos Sainz in the dust with a gap of over 20 seconds.
Yuki Tsunoda – Q: 8th | SQ: 18th | S: DNF | R: 10th
It’s no secret that the Alpha Tauri is not the fastest car out there, but Yuki managed to pull off a decent result on Sunday nonetheless. If he keeps up performances like this, he’ll be AT’s number-one driver before long, especially if his teammate keeps floundering like he has this weekend. It’s also worth noting that Yuki seemed uncharacteristically calm on the team radio, opting not to curse up a storm like he has in the past. Perhaps this is a sign that he’s maturing as a driver, which is only in his favour if Red Bull ever finds themselves having an unexpected opening.
It needs to be said that Yuki’s Saturday wasn’t all that, as Tsunoda lost some of his front wing in a collision with Nyck before colliding with the wall at turn 13 causing damage to his car and a punctured rear tire. Despite returning to the track after the team deemed the car safe to drive, it quickly became apparent that there were more issues, causing Tsunoda to crawl around the track and disrupt the sprint race session. Which resulted in a fine of 5000 euros for the team.
Then for an honourable mention…
The honourable mention of the day goes to Lando Norris, because let’s face it, 9th is as good as it was going to get with nobody from the top dogs failing to make the finish line.
Struggle Bus:
Nyck de Vries – Q: NC | SQ: 20th | S: 14th | R: DNF
Nyck de Vries had a rough time on his fourth outing with Alpha Tauri across the whole weekend. He was the first victim to the wall at turn 3 in Friday’s qualifying session. During the sprint, he started at the back of the grid and only managed to climb up to 14th place, leaving him bereft of any points, and had contact with Tsunoda which had a factor in his collision. Things went from bad to worse on Sunday, as he crashed out at turn 5/6 and brought out the safety car.
To add further salt in the wound, de Vries has yet to score any points this season, despite his Formula E Champion pedigree. While I gave him some leeway during the first few races as he adjusted to the car, he made some rookie mistakes in Baku that proved to be quite disastrous to his confidence and the results. Let’s hope that he can bounce back from this disappointment and put on a better show at the upcoming race in Miami.
Alpine
Esteban Ocon – Q: 12th | SQ: 13th | S: 18th | R: 15th
Pierre Gasly – Q: 19th | SQ: 19th | S: 13th | R: 14th
Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly had a tough time this weekend. Alpine faced reliability issues from the start, which put them on the back foot from the beginning, especially with only one free practice before qualifying. This meant that despite bringing a significant upgrade, Ocon, and Gasly were out of contention for points throughout the weekend. On Sunday, things looked a little more hopeful, but that hope was dashed as there was no late safety car for Esteban Ocon to take advantage of, leaving him to pit in the very last lap and subsequently fall to the back fringes of the grid.
Gasly also caused more strain on the funds after falling foul of turn 3 in qualifying, that after the turn 2 disaster at Melbourne could prove very costly for the team.
The sprint
The new sprint format took a ride on the struggle bus this weekend. It’s unclear if it’ll be the same story at other tracks, but let’s just say it wasn’t anything to write home about in Baku.
Now that the sprint no longer determines the Sunday starting grid, it’s become a self-contained event with its own qualifying session and miniature race that hold no significance to the main event on Sunday. The old Sprint format made things complicated because whenever someone had a surprisingly good qualifying session, the top dogs would get more time to overtake with the sprint, nullifying any good qualifying for a backmarker. But with the sprint holding no significance to other events, it was actually quite dull this time around.
If they really wanted to spice things up, they could get rid of one of the qualifying sessions and try something like a reversed grid or fan boosts or any of the other creative ideas we’ve seen floating about, because this just wasn’t it.
Carlos Sainz – Q: 4th | SQ: 5th | S: 5th | R: 5th
Carlos Sainz’s performance once again fell short compared to his teammate. Sainz has been lagging behind since practice, qualifying eight-tenths of a second behind and trailing his Ferrari teammate by more than 24 seconds at the finish line on Sunday. Without improvement, Sainz runs the risk of being demoted to the number two position and serving as Leclerc’s wingman.
Then for the (dis)honourable mention of the day…
The dishonourable mention goes to Alfa Romeo, as it was another disappointing weekend for both drivers. They lacked the pace to contend on either day and seemed to be moving backwards rather than forward. Zhou Guanyu’s retirement was an unfortunate first for the team this season, while Valtteri Bottas finished last on the road after losing five places on the opening lap.
Considering we’re in the thick of a triple-header, we won’t have to wait long until the next one, as the drivers are already well on their way to Miami. Want to see lights go out? Be sure to tune in at 8.30 PM on Sunday.