Racing Against the Clock — and Tires

A 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix debrief

The race in Baku, Azerbaijan, this weekend proved to be crucial in gauging the gap between teams as the first upgrades of the 2023 season hit the track.

The weekend began with a fresh format: one practice session followed by a qualifying round on Friday that set the starting order for Sunday’s main event; a sprint shootout set the order for the stand-alone sprint race on Saturday followed by the Azerbaijan Grand Prix race on Sunday.

In the lead-up to Sunday, the debut, and highly controversial, sprint race shook the standing order with Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) qualifying first in the sprint shootout. Leclerc, who notoriously performs well on the streets of Baku, matched Max Verstappen’s 1.40.445-minute lap time exactly, down to a thousandth of a second. Leclerc’s speed was the confidence boost Ferrari needed as he sprayed champagne for the first time this year on Sunday from the third podium step.

This leap in faith also seemed to ease uncertainty over Leclerc’s future and put to bed team transfer rumors.

“I am fully committed,” Leclerc said according to F1. “I love Ferrari.”

Despite what Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso labeled a perfect car and good weekend for Ferrari, Red Bull continues to reign supreme with Verstappen and Sergio “Checo” Perez flying football field lengths ahead of the scarlet red car. In lap 51, Perez cleared Leclerc by 20.8 seconds.

Perez became the only driver to win twice in Azerbaijan.

“[Red Bull] are in another league when it comes to the race,” Leclerc said in a post-race interview.

Leclerc called both the Aston Martin and Red Bull cars better than the Ferraris in terms of race pace.

The Red Bull pitting strategy, which sent Verstappen into the garages for a fresh set of tires preceding a safety car, confused fans. The decision, which caused Verstappen to lose his race lead, was a shocking misstep from the usually tightly run ship that is the Honda-backed team.

However, in a post-race play-by-play by Alex Brundle, European Le Mans Champion, the decision to pit Verstappen, after knowing Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri) had hit the wall resulting in a broken steering arm and retirement, was a fair one. With the car stopped just off of the street circuit, a waved yellow flag or virtual safety car would have been expected, rather than a full safety car.

While the continued narrative that Red Bull is pulverizing the rest of the pack has caused a lack of upfront on-track battles, Ferrari’s speed in qualifying and the feud for first between teammates Verstappen and Perez was a welcome thrill for fans.

The minuscule gulf separating the two Red Bulls showed how one oversteer can cost precious time. On lap 33, Verstappen fell from one to two seconds behind his teammate as he kissed the wall; the blink-of-an-eye slip caused Verstappen to lag the remaining 18 laps.

Despite a slower weekend for Carlos Sainz — the other Ferrari driver apologized to the team after the race saying, “Sorry for being so slow the whole weekend,” — he remained consistent all weekend with a fourth-place practice and qualifying session on Friday, a fifth-place qualifying and sprint result and a fifth-place race finish.

Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) remained securely behind Sainz in qualifying and Sunday’s race after recovering from an unusually lackluster practice where he closed the session in 11^th. Hamilton made an impressive overtake on his teammate in lap 15, launching ahead.

Both Mercedes drivers failed to awe in the finishing order with George Russel gaining five points in eighth place. Russel, however, delivered the entertainment off-track. In a heated sprint, the British driver pressed Verstappen into the wall in lap one after claiming he hit the apex — the inner driving line — so the corner was his to take.

The contact resulted in a gaping hole in the Red Bull’s sidepod.

Verstappen, who is no stranger to pushing fellow drivers off the track, criticized Russell, calling him a “dickhead” following the race.

“He’s very good at explaining and making excuses. I mean everyone had cold tires and I think I can every right to be on the outside,” Verstappen said in a post-race interview. “I also didn’t really risk anything too much. I have him enough space because I knew we were going side by side. But you know you need two guys to work together to make the corner correctly, he didn’t.”

While Mercedes fell back in the ranks as a potential on-track rival throughout the weekend, Ferrari is having more success.

The team adorned with a prancing horse reduced the monstrous gap with Red Bull to a, still large, but more manageable rift, after a revised rear wing design. Although the team made fewer alterations than most teams, the rear wing is vital. The curved surface of carbon fiber, branded with the signature Ferrari logo, controls downforce, allowing F1 cars to remain suctioned to the track in tight corners at break-neck speeds.

Half of the grid brought the first wave of car alterations thanks to the three-week break. McLaren’s floor and rear and beam wing revamps paid off with Lando Norris qualifying seventh and finishing within the points in ninth place. AlphaTauri, Alpine, Mercedes, Williams, Haas and Aston Martin also brought upgrades.

While speed isn’t a pressing issue, Red Bull’s lengthy list of revisions may solve the reliability issues they faced in the first three races, squealing and all.

Alfa Romeo also brought shiny advancements, although the new rear and beam wing structure didn’t keep Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu from descending into an 18^th-place finish and 19^th-place retirement. Bottas, who won the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, has struggled with managing the car this season.

While last year Bottas outperformed teams like Aston Martin, the latter has breezed by the rest of the midfield, leaving Alfa Romeo in the dust.

Aston Martin had yet another standout performance with Fernando Alonzo missing the podium by one place. The emerald cars, one of the two keeping pace with Leclerc’s Ferrari by a mere second, also proved to be sturdy — a word rarely happily married with F1’s need for speed.

Lance Stroll’s car seemed to handle more like an IndyCar at jet-like speeds, brushing the wall in lap 17 without the sizable damage characteristic of F1.

Alonso, known for his expert gauging of tire lifespan, taught the rest of the grid a masterclass in tire management, knowing to save the rubber and push toward the end.

Tires, while always important, were the star of the show. Drivers and teams had to mind their tires with exceptional diligence as the sprint race added obstacles and the Azerbaijani heat made for a melted mess.

The traditionalists, who oppose the format shakeup, point to several potential issues: equipment degradation as the sprinting cars down the straights slash their tire life in half, practice sessions carved out — and, with them, important data — and the value of fan entertainment over what is best for drivers.

Verstappen bluntly said it’s “terrible.”

Supporters of the sprint format argue that it adds to the spectacle: a mini event building on the already action-packed grand prix; a bang for your buck if you will. 

Although not a huge points grab — the driver securing first gaining eight points down to the driver finishing eighth taking home one point — the format could see drivers who typically finish outside championship points range, snagging a few. Alex Albon (Williams) came close as he qualified seventh and finished ninth in Saturday’s sprint events.

Whether fans despise the format or love the drama — from Yuki Tsunoda’s lonesome rear tire to Leclerc spotting a cat on-track — this early in the championship, a few points can go a long way.