After almost a month of hiatus, the Formula 1 has returned to activity on the streets of Baku (Azerbaijan) with the fourth round of the championship, the first with the new sprint format. As a result, the teams have had a very busy weekend with no time to work on the cars, which has upset many teams.
The one that seemed to best adapt to this new format has been charles leclerc. The Monegasque was the fastest in the two qualifying sessions and claimed both pole positions. It was of little use to him in the sprint, because despite being fast in one lap, the problems of the Ferrari in long run they still do not disappear. He finished second in the sprint, although in the long race the ’16’ has assumed that the two Red Bulls will end up overtaking him except by surprise.
Despite starting from behind, the favorites for victory are the Red Bullany of them. Sergio Pérez took the victory in the sprint with some ease, but will start third behind Leclerc and Verstappen, something that complicates the options. Even more with the anger that the Dutchman has on him, who could only be third in the sprint after a touch with Russell (to which he dedicated an insult) who left him a hole in the pontoon. And from second place, the current world champion seems the favorite.
The fourth on the grid will be Carlos Sainz. The man from Madrid has had a weekend to forget. He has made several mistakes in almost all the sessions, but the positive part is that the sprint race was where he got the best performance from him to finish fifth, yes, with the controversy of an action against Fernando Alonso that the Asturian did not like.
Alonso, like his compatriot, is having a weekend with many headaches. In your case, for a DRS that almost never opens in the straight Neither him nor Lance Stroll. That conditioned both classifications, but in the sprint race Aston Martin seemed to find the solution, something that allowed the ’14’ to finish sixth after a beautiful overtaking Lewis Hamilton.
The Mercedes they will also have a say in the fight for the podium. They seem far from Red Bull and Leclerc, but Russell was already seen in third position in the sprint. It will be difficult for him to repeat the milestone on Sunday starting eleventh, so the options to fight for the drawer will focus on a Hamilton who will start fifth, although in the sprint he has already lost the battle with the two Spanish pilots, his greatest direct rivals.
And this new format has caused many problems for other teams. Mainly to Alpine. Gasly set the car on fire and ended up against the wall in the first two sessions and his partner Esteban Ocon He ended up so unhappy with the performance of his car that he skipped ‘parc-fermé’ to make changes to the car and will start from the pits. Also to Tsunodawho despite starting eighth, had a sprint race to forget.
Schedule and where to watch on TV
The race in Azerbaijan will start at 13:00 peninsular time and can be seen in DAZN F1, prior subscription to the platform. In addition, you will be able to follow the race live through the special coverage that the website of The sixth.
