Perez Stuns in Azerbaijan Grand Prix Sprint Race

Sergio Perez takes the win in the Azerbaijan Sprint Race. The Sprint shootout and race are part of the new Sprint Race weekend format that the FIA adopted starting this weekend. The Azerbaijan Sprint race was full of action. Most of the drivers opted to start on medium tires for the 17 lap race. The exceptions were Lando Norris (McLaren) and Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) who started on the softs which proved to be a mistake come race time.

During the race championship leader Max Verstappen (Red Bull) had an on track incident that cause some side pod damage to his car. Verstappen was verbal over the radio that the incident be investigated after losing a position. Ultimately, Verstappen was able to pass Russell and regain third place where he would finish in the race. After the race they two had the following to say:

Max Verstappen Comments

After Verstappen and Russell exchanged words post race Verstappen stated the following to the media, “No, it’s not clarified,” said Verstappen when asked if the talk with Russell cleared things up. “I just don’t understand why you need to take some much risk on Lap 1. Understeering into my sidepod, created a hole.

“We all have cold tires, it’s all easy to lock up, but in his beautiful way of explaining, ‘Oh mate, locked up, look at the onboard’, it doesn’t make sense. It’s fine, we still got into P3, got some good points, but it is what it is.” Clarifying where his sidepod damage came from, Verstappen said: “Not the wall, just Turn 2, I think, where he tapped me. There is a hole in the sidepod. It doesn’t look that great, but it is what it is now, and we will focus on tomorrow.”

George Russell Comments

Russell stated that he feels he, “probably exceeded where we deserved to finish”, and explained that he was taken aback by Verstappen’s behavior when they stepped out of the car.

“I don’t really know if it was a chat,” Russell commented. “I was quite surprised, I thought he was coming over to say ‘good battle’, to be honest. From my side, I was on the inside, the position was already lost from him, and I was really quite surprised he was still trying to hold in round the outside. Ever since we were eight years old in go karting, if you are on the inside on the apex, it’s your corner, and if you try and hold it round the outside, you are taking the risk.”

“I’m here to fight, I’m here to win. I’m not just going to wave him by because he’s Max Verstappen in a Red Bull. [There’s] nothing really more to say. I thought the move was on and that’s about it, really.”

Mercedes Team principal Toto Wolff also chimed in

Wolff said to F1.com, “If I’m George, I’m doing exactly the same; if I’m Max, I’m upset. I think [Russell] defended well. I think it’s dangerous to overtake round the outside, because you could either end up in the run-off or end up in the wall, or you could have somebody on the inside who is weak and gives you all the place in the world.”

“But, you know, on the inside it’s quite an angle you need to achieve, and if you try to turn around there tightly, you’re going to lose out on the next straight.”

Wolff added: “If it’s your team mate winning and you finish third, and you don’t have performance in the car because you have a big hole, absolutely you’re upset, and each of them vents that differently. As long as you’re authentic, that’s good. And Max is quite outspoken – probably [he] forgets about it one hour later – that’s OK.”

It’s clear the two disagree on how the events unfolded. The FIA stewards took no action on the incident.

Back to the front

Sergio Perez spent most of the race in P2 before finding a bit of pace late in the race and passing Leclerc who was then pressured by a quick lapping Verstappen behind. Leclerc was able to hold Verstappen off to salvage a P2 finished after starting on pole. Perez checked out at the front finishing 4.5s ahead.

“It was good,” said Sprint race winner Perez to F1.com. “With these tricky sessions, it’s been a lot of pressure put on us and our teams – engineers, mechanics, drivers. So, to get away with maximum points was the main objective, but obviously we know that tomorrow is the main race. We were able to learn a bit [for the Grand Prix], but obviously tomorrow we are going to be on much higher fuel loads [and] track conditions are going to be different. I think there is good learning today. P3 is not ideal for tomorrow’s race, but I will give it a go and fight for the win.”

Incidents Elsewhere

Yuki Tsunoda had a major failure that resulted in him limping his Alpha Tauri back to the pits. He suffered from a bit of understeer which put his car into the wall at Turn 13. Tsunoda would ultimately retire because the damage ended up being terminal. The team will be scrambling to get the car repaired for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The incident triggered a safety car.

On the restart Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) took advantage of the restart and pulled away. However, Perez stay in tow and when DRS we enabled again he took advantage and passed Leclerc on Lap 8. Perez had clean air in front and started to pull ahead which developed a battle for second between Leclerc and Verstappen. Leclerc was able to hold off Verstappen taking a hard fought P2. Russell and Sainz completed the fourth and fifth respectively. Fernando Alonso (Aston martin), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) secured the final points on offer. Two car in the points was a great showing for Aston martin as they try to maintain their constructors standing point lead over Mercedes.

Logan Sargeant (Williams) did not start the sprint after crashing out of the sprint shootout.

Full Azerbaijan Grand Prix Sprint Race Results are Below

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time
1	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	LAP 17
2	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+4.463
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+5.065
4	George Russell	Mercedes	+8.532
5	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+10.388
6	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+11.613
7	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+16.503
8	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+18.417
9	Alexander Albon	Williams	+21.757
10	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+22.851
11	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+27.990
12	Guanyu Zhou	Alfa Romeo	+34.602
13	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+36.918
14	Nyck De Vries	Alpha Tauri	+41.626
15	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	+48.587
16	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	+49.917
17	Lando Norris	McLaren	+51.104
18	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	+60.621
19	Yuki Tsunoda	Alpha Tauri	DNF

You can find more details on the main Azerbaijan race here Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

In a time when Ferrari F1 team seemed to be struggling with every issue possible, a silver lining emerged in Baku. Charles Leclerc has secured his first pole position of 2023 for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. This is Leclerc’s third consecutive pole position in Baku having secured the same in 2021 and 2022. This pole finish is the ray of hope Ferrari has needed this year currently sitting 4th in the constructors championship. It also marked a turn of fortunes for Leclerc, who’s last pole was at the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix 6 months ago.

Leclerc is in an unfamiliar P10 in the drivers championship standings. The Ferraris have experienced reliability issues in the early season stages. Leclerc has had two DNFs thus far in 2023. It is promising to see them back on top as a contender for taking the competition to Red Bull who have seemed almost untouchable thus far in 2023.

The top 3 was rounded out by Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) and Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing). Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) finished in 4th as the best of the rest; 8 tenths behind his teammate Leclerc. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes AMG F1) showed good form with a P5 finish in qualifying which is a positive after early season complications with the W14. Hamilton will be building off of his P2 finish from Australian and the Mercedes camp look to improve the car and get back to being competitive for race wins.

The Bottom Half of Q3

Lando Norris (McLaren) and Yuki Tsunoda (Aplha Tauri) secure a spot in the top 10 with P7 and P8 finishes. McLaren have failed to make Q3 in two of the three races in 2023 thus far. Both cars finishing in the top 10 is a good sign that the team has made some improvements. We won’t know if this early success will lead to a meaningful finish until the grand prix, but before that we have a sprint race. We will use the sprint as a proxy to determine how well the McLarens are stacking up to the competition. Piastri rounded out the last spot in Q3 finishing about 1.4s slower behind the session leader.

Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) surprisingly fell back in the pecking order. He finished P6 in Q3 a full second behind the leader Leclerc. George Russell failed to make it out of Q2 which is surprising considering his early found pace. You can check out the full results below.

Full Azerbaijan Grand Prix Qualifying Results

Q1 107% time – 1:48.357
Note – De Vries failed to set a time within 107% in Q1. It is yet to be determined if he will race.

The FIA have been in discussions with the 10 Formula 1 championship teams on a new sprint race grand prix weekend format. Sprint races were first introduced to Formula 1 in 2021. The change offered drivers additional opportunities to score championship points and to create more variability

Old Format

The old format featured qualifying being held as usual on Saturday to determine the starting order for the sprint race. The sprint race results would set the Sunday starting grid and the sprint winner was credited with a pole position.

New Format

The new format adopts the MotoGP style of sprint race grid setting. The Sprint race will become an independent race with its own qualifying session taking the place of FP3 on Saturdays. The main grand prix qualifying will take place on Friday after 1 practice session. The grids will be independent of one another. Points for the F1 Sprint race remain the same. The top eight finishes will receive points

The FIA have stated the following process for applying penalties at F1 Sprint events. Grid penalties incurred in first practice or qualifying will apply to the race. Any grid penalties incurred in the Sprint Shootout will apply to the Sprint. Any grid penalties incurred in the Sprint will apply to the race.

Oracle Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner had previously expressed concerns with the introduction of a new format in a race such as Baku. Horner stated “The reality is it’s absolutely ludicrous to be doing the first sprint race of the year in a street race like Azerbaijan.” His concern was the high probability of crashes at this circuit. Additionally, cost cap concerns are also looming. Resources are stretched thinner by the addition of sprint races. There is also concern that incidents that arise in Sprint races may have a high impact on the outcome of a grand prix.

For more information be sure to check out F1.com

Toto Wolff, Team principal at Mercedes AMG F1 has stated that the W14 is on the “Right Trajectory” after the team has suffer early season woes. Some of these issues appear to have been solved considered Lewis Hamilton’s pace in Australia. However, there are some suspicions that the result may be a fluke due to the number of on track incidents that occurred in that grand prix. You can read more about that race here. Australian Grand Prix Recap.

In an article with Sky Sports, Toto stated, “In terms of car development, it is encouraging to see that within three races, we understand the car much better, we have defined a clear direction where we need to go and I believe we are on the right trajectory…We need to consolidate our understanding and hopefully over the next few races we can make another step.”

The teams have had a 4 week break since Australia. It’s not clear who will be bringing new components to the next race at Baku. With the the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix its hard to say where the teams are on pace. One month is a lot of time for tweaks to the car. We are excited to see them unleashed again in Baku next weekend.

Mercedes currently sit in third in the constructors championship behind Aston Martin and championship leaders Red Bull Racing. You can read more about Mercedes’ progress at F1.com

This morning Scuderia Ferrari released a statement regarding the 5 second penalty Carlos Sainz received at the Australian Grand Prix. The penalty was given for contact made with Fernando Alonso during the final standing restart of the race. Ferrari appeal the penalty but the FIA stewards have dismissed their appeal and upheld the penalty. The statement from Ferrari reads as follows:

“We acknowledge the FIA decision not to grant us a right of review in relation to the penalty imposed on Carlos Sainz at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix. We are naturally disappointed, and felt that we had provided sufficient significant new elements for the FIA to re-examine the decision especially in the context of the particular conditions and multiple incidents that occurred during the final restart. We are however respectful of the process and of the FIA decision. We are now looking forward to entering broader discussions with the FIA, F1 and all the Teams, with the aim of further improving the policing of our sport, in order to ensure the highest level of fairness and consistency that our sport deserves.”

FIA Comments

The FIA stated the following after their verdict, “There is no significant and relevant new element which was unavailable to the parties seeking the review at the time of the decision concerned. The Petition is therefore dismissed. We considered the fact that this collision took place at the first corner on the first lap of the restart, when, by convention, the Stewards would typically take a more lenient view of incidents. However, we decided that notwithstanding that it was the equivalent of a first lap incident, we considered that there was sufficient gap for SAI to take steps to avoid the collision and failed to do so. We therefore imposed a 5-second time penalty.”

Ferrari asked the stewards to take into account telemetry data from Sainz’s car, plus witness statements given by Sainz and Alonso. The FIA did not reconsider the Scuderia’s appeal based on this information. They deemed it “unnecessary for us to hear from SAI or hear from any other driver to decide that he was wholly to blame for the collision.”

The FIA decided that the supplied data “corroborated” their decision. The written statements from Sainz and Alonso were considered “not new significant and relevant elements to decide about the incident”.

Ferrari remain fourth in the championship standings with 26 points, behind third-placed Mercedes with 56 points.

After the Australian Grand Prix Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 driver George Russell publicly made a bold claim. Russell stated stated, “For sure they’re holding back, They’re almost embarrassed to show their full potential because the faster they seem globally the more the sport is going to try to hold them back somehow. I think realistically, they probably have seven tenths advantage over the rest of the field. Max has got no reason to be pushing it, nor has Red Bull. They have done a really great job, we can’t take that away, and we clearly have to up our game.”

The comment came after championship leader Max Verstappen extended his lead in the Australian Grand Prix by almost 10 seconds before the red flags. Verstappen responded to Russell’s criticisms by stating, “I mean, we just try to do the best we can with the development of the car, but it’s also about pace management. We didn’t really know, I think no-one really knew how long that hard tire would last, so it’s about just bringing it home because we had a bit of pace I think over the others. There’s no need to try and gain half a second a lap and destroy your tires to the end because you never know, a Safety Car can happen, red flags, like we had today. So yeah, it’s not necessary to risk all that.”

In response to the banter Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner laughed and stated, “That’s very generous of him. I mean, his team would know all too well about those kinds of advantages [referring to Mercedes run of 7 world championships]. There’s always an element of managing that goes on in any race. You could see because it was a one-stop race and a very early one-stop race, there was an element of tire management that was going on, which is what they were doing.

He continued, “Checo wasn’t hanging about, he wasn’t cruising round holding back seven tenths a lap because he didn’t want to show it. The grid was certainly a little bit closer at this venue. We’ve obviously weighted the car towards the race rather than qualifying. You can see perhaps the cars that warmed up their tires more aggressively perhaps suffered a bit more in the race.”

Lewis Hamilton’s Previous Comments

Red Bull Racing have also been the subject of discussion by 7 time world champion Lewis Hamilton. After the race in Jeddah Hamilton responded to a question on whether Red Bull’s dominance was bad for the sport. Hamilton replied stating, “I don’t know, it’s not for me to say, but I’ve never seen a car so fast. When we were fast, we weren’t that fast. That’s the fastest car I’ve seen compared to the rest. I don’t know why or how but he came past me with serious speed. I didn’t even bother to block because there was a massive speed difference.”

Verstappen responded to RacingNews365.com stating, “I think if you look at the statistics, then those statements are not correct. But we also do have a very good car. Nothing wrong with that, of course. Still, we are not as dominant as Mercedes has shown some years. I don’t pay much attention to that, that doesn’t get you anywhere. Whatever we have done in the eight years that Mercedes is so dominant, we also tried to close the gap. That’s the only thing you can do.”

Hamilton seems to have found some pace in Australia allowing him to secure a P2 finish. However, the Australian Grand Prix was plagued with safety cars and red flags so we may not know the true pace of the W14 Mercedes until the next race in Azerbaijan. You can read more about the outcome of the Australian Grand Prix here.

Reigning Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen has threatened to leave Formula 1. Verstappen has recently shared his distaste for propositions put forth by the FIA regarding sprint races and changes to the race weekend format. He stated “I’m not a fan of how many races we do nowadays and I’m not a fan of changing the whole format [without practice sessions] either. They have to be careful not to change the whole DNA of Formula One. I do think it’s important that they don’t play with that too much, because then of course at one point it stops. The way I used to watch Formula 1 when I was younger, I really liked it, looking forward to the race on Sunday. When you do so many races as we do nowadays maybe you can cut out one practice session, but other than that, I don’t think you need to change many things. The only thing you have to look at is making the field closer, so the gaps between all teams, which leads to more exciting racing in general.”

Chatter in the paddock

The FIA introduce an idea to add sprint races to select race weekends. One one side proponents argue that this levels the playing field a bit and gives drivers more opportunities to score championship points. Opponents argue that the format increases risk for drivers at the will of fan demand.

Others such as Sky Fox Sports analyst and former driver Martin Brundle have other thoughts. Brundle recently stated in a Sky Sports commentary, “I don’t know if it’ll be changing. I like the format we’ve got now. Of course, we ended up with the qualifying system we’ve got and everything about Formula 1 because we’ve changed it in the past and finessed it and evolved. That’s the key word, it needs evolving.”

Brundle continued to speak on Sprint Races

“I don’t know why we’re messing around with the sprint concept already if I’m honest and again, I don’t see why it needs to be standalone, that’s the whole purpose. Teams and the drivers love data driven certainty and the sport and the fans want to sit down and watch some uncertainty which they certainly had in Melbourne.” He continued, “The whole purpose of the sprint race, and it’s worked on a number of occasions already, was to maybe just spice up the actual race day grid a little bit and brilliantly it gives us qualifying on Friday, sprint race Saturday and the main grand prix on Sunday.”

F1 Teams vote on sprint race format

Prior to the Australian Grand Prix start the team principals from every team met to vote on a format that would be agreeable by all parties. Their previously started concerns where that F1 didn’t need 3 practice sessions prior to qualifying. Other concerns were that the teams need clarify on how qualifying would be impact by the additional of sprint races. Would there be separate qualifying session for the sprint and grand prix? In terms of wear and tear what are teams being asked to account for?

Power unit and car component allocations are of the utmost concern here. More races and more time on track leads to more concerns for component longevity and reliability. Additionally, tire allocations and use are also a point of discussion. It would not be feasible to introduce sprint races and maintain the current tire allocation schedules for race weekends.

An agreement made?

Early reports suggest an agreement has be made. However, whether the agreement will be implemented will depend on additional approvals by a number of F1 governing bodies. It is yet known if these changes will be implemented before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 3 weeks time.

Redbull Team principal Christian Horner also spoke out telling the media, “The reality is it’s absolutely ludicrous to be doing the first sprint race of the year in a street race like Azerbaijan, but I think from a spectacle point of view, from a fan point of view, it’s probably going to be one of the most exciting Sprint races of the year. From a cost gap perspective, all you can do is trash your car and it costs a lot of money around there. So one race is enough in Baku. The fact that we’ve got two… yeah, there could well be some action there. But that’s part of the challenge and it’s part of the task that we’ve got.”

The proposed weekend format that appears to have the most traction is as follows:

Will Verstappen Quit?

In the past Verstappen has commented on his limited future in Formula 1. Its clear that he is not a huge fan of the format changes. He has previously expressed interest in endurance racing in the future but no real commitments have been made. However, Martin Brundle put it perfectly [referring to Max quitting F1], “I would be surprised, but if he doesn’t want to drive it, there are a million other people who would want to drive that Red Bull. I think what he is trying to say is ‘don’t mess around too much’. I get his point on that, but I don’t really see why that would make him stop.” We don’t see Verstappen making any drastic moves any time soon. He’s in the fastest car on the grid and will want to add to his legacy as a 2 time world champion.

If you didn catch the Australian Grand Prix you can check Australia Grand Prix Recap

Aston Martin has stunned the F1 world with their start to the 2023 season. Veteran and legend Fernando Alonso has secured 3 podium finishes in 3 races. Son of team executive chairman, and Aston Martin teammate, Lance Stroll has also score points in Bahrain and Australia. This effort has assited in landing Aston Martin F1 Team in second place in the constructors championship standings. This surprise early start ahead of Ferarri and Aston Martin F1 power unit manufacturer Mercedes. After the race in Bahrain Lawrence Stroll stated, “I said a couple of years back we’re on a five-year journey to be fighting for World Championships. I think there were a lot of doubters when I said that and I can understand the position we were sitting – still taking over from what was Force India, a bit of a conversion to Racing Point and then becoming Aston Martin.

“But I’ve made – we’ve made – significant changes. We’ve gone from 400 to 740 people. We’re building the greatest new state-of-the-art Formula 1 facility that we don’t move into until May 1, so the success of this year cannot be contributed to the facility. But I believe it’s a lot to do with my passion and vision to excite and stimulate everybody in the business.”

F1.com reports that the Aston Martin team has yet to deploy any component upgrades. This early success is promising nonetheless. Aston Martin team principal, Mike Krack stated to F1.com, “The team’s mission is very clear. Stroll [referring to Lawrence Stroll] has not been having any delay in telling us ‘When are we going to win the next one?’ Obviously he is happy we have made a step, but this is not enough for his ambitions. The good thing with Lawrence is you know where you stand – he wants more, and we will have to deliver more.”

Can victory be attained?

Surely F1 fans will be on the edge of their seats in anticipation for upgrades to the Aston Martin car. Additionally, fans will want to see a 100% recovered Lance Stroll behind the wheel. Lance Stroll suffer from a biking accident that resulted in him breaking both wrists and a few toes. Stroll raced two weeks after surgery. Questions continue to looming regarding his fitness status. Stroll’s result in Australia suggests so. Stroll finished P4 behind teammate Fernando Alonso to solidify Aston Martin’s second place standing in the championship. The Redbulls have set the benchmark for the 2023 season thus far. Time will determined if upcoming upgrades will be the answer for Aston Martin as they hunt for a race win in 2023.

You can read more about the results from the Australian Grand Prix here Australian Grand Prix Finishes in Dramatic Fashion.

The Australian Grand Prix started off with another lap 1 incident. Charles Leclerc missed his breaking zone and committed to the turn late which resulted in making contact with the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll in turn 3. After the contact, Leclerc was beached in the gravel trap and a safety car was deployed. The race resumed soon after on lap 3 but on lap 9 Williams driver Alex Albon lost the rear of his car in turn 7 and transferred a large amount of gravel onto the race track. Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg nearly made contact with Albon’s car as it spun back on to the track. The FIA stewards red flagged the race citing safety concerns. The race resumed at 15:33 local time after the gravel was cleaned off of the track on lap 10.

On the restart Nick De Vries and Esteban Ocon made contact in turn 3 but both cars were able to continue. The stewards deemed the incident a racing incident and no further action was required. Verstappen was in P2 at the restart but was able to take back P1 after losing two position at the race start on lap 13. On lap 18 George Russell’s Mercedes caught fire and a virtual safety car was deployed; ending his race. Verstappen led for the majority of the race but had a slight lock up on lap 48 that cost him 4 seconds of his previous 11 second lead; virtually eliminating any possibility of a safety car pitstop for fresh tires to finish the race. However, the drama continued until the end.

A Late Red Flag

On lap 53, Kevin Magnussen lost his right rear tire after making contact with the track barrier. The safety car deployed with 4 laps to go in the race. The top half of the grid decided to forgo pitting to avoid losing track position. After one lap under the yellow flag the stewards red flagged the race for a second time. This allowed all of the cars to put on fresh tires to close out the race. This led to a 2 lap shootout to close out the race. The race resumed at 16:56 local time. The drivers raised visibility concerns due to the position of the sun setting on the horizon prior to the restart.

The 3rd Start

At the restart Verstappen got away but behind multiple car incidents occurred. Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly took each other out. Gasly had a lock up at the end of the straight and rejoined the track making contact with his teammate. Nick De Vries’ Alpha Tauri also made contact with Logan Sargeant with both cars running off track. In the chaos, Carlos Sainz made contact with Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin which put Alonso into the wall and dropped his Aston Martin to the back of the pack. Sainz was handed a 5 second time penalty. This penalty effectively dropped Sainz to P12 taking away his points finish. Alonso’s car was still operational despite the impact. It was seemingly unfortunate for Alonso as he had spent most of the race in P3. The red flag came out prior to the cars making it through sector 1.

By rule, this meant that on the restart Alonso’s previously lost position was given back because he was in P3 at the last restart. Unfortunately for Alpine, because both cars were not able to continue they will lose out on their position at the time of restart. This left both cars out of the points despite a spectacular effort from the team. The restarted at 17:33 for a rolling start which was before the 3 hour cut off for the overall race time limit. The race then ended under a safety car as a formality solidifying the finishing positions based on the reorder from the last restart.

The Outcome

Oscar Piastri secured his first points finish on his home turf and McLaren will finish with a double points finish. The was a refreshing race for McLaren after they struggled in the first two races of the season. Sergio Perez was able to salvage a P5 finish after starting from the pit lane. Perez also secure an extra championship point for fastest lap. Nico Hulkenberg finished P7 for Haas scoring valuable points for the team.

The final results were as follows:

1  Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing
2  Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes +0.179 
3  Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin +0.769  
4  Lance STROLL Aston Martin +3.082  
5  Sergio PEREZ Red Bull Racing +3.320  
6  Lando NORRIS McLaren +3.701  
7  Nico HULKENBERG Haas F1 Team +4.939  
8  Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +5.382  
9  Guanyu ZHOU Alfa Romeo +5.713  
10  Yuki TSUNODA AlphaTauri +6.052  
11  Valtteri BOTTAS Alfa Romeo +6.513  
12  Carlos SAINZ Ferrari +6.594  
13  Pierre GASLY Alpine DNF
14  Esteban OCON Alpine DNF
15  Nyck DE VRIES AlphaTauri DNF
16  Logan SARGEANT Williams DNF
17  Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team DNF
18  George RUSSELL Mercedes DNF
19  Alexander ALBON Williams DNF 
20  Charles LECLERC Ferrari DNF

Max Verstappen secured his first pole position at the Australian Grand Prix today in commanding fashion. Verstappen set a 1:16.732 in Q3 which was just over 2 tenths fastest than second place finisher Mercedes AMG Petronas driver George Russell. Verstappen had slipped to P6 after setting an earlier lap time of 1:17.578s but charged until the end of Q3 to retake pole. Russell’s teammate Lewis Hamilton found pace despite early practice struggles and secured P3 on the starting grid. Despite Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso’s back to back top 3 finishes in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia he was limited to a P4 finish in Australia setting a Q3 best of 1:17.139s. Alonso will be looking for an early lunge up the grid to continue his podium success in 2023. Aston martin teammate Lance Stroll was able to secure a P6 finish in qualifying setting a 1:17.308.

The Aston Martins appear to be in great form in 2023. After early embarrassment from being outperformed by Aston Martin who uses a Mercedes power unit. Mercedes AMG Petronas appears to have figured out at least some of their issues with pace and the car setup. It is yet to be determined if this early success in qualifying will translate to the rigors of the race.

Comments from Red Bull

Sergio Perez had a nightmare qualifying after locking up early in Q1 and sending his car into the gravel. Due to the position of the No. 11 Red Bull the session was red flagged and Perez was not able to get the car out of the gravel trap. No major damage to the car was observed.

Perez was frustrated when he stated, “It’s really hard to digest this one. To end qualifying on the second braking zone is really disappointing. But nothing I can do now. I have to look forwards. I hope we are able to fix the technical issue for tomorrow, otherwise it will be really hard to race like this. This morning we had the issue. We thought we had fixed it. But this morning I was just going all around. I was riding more on the grass than on the track but we thought we had fixed it. So, I was pretty confident on that part, but that wasn’t the case as soon as I touched the brake in Turn 3.”

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner said to Sky Sports F1, “He’s had a horrible day today. It started this morning, the car was late off the weighbridge. There was no major issue, and his plan in FP3 was always to run differently to Max, not do a long run, just do two short runs. His first short run, there was this issue. So, he never really recovered from that FP3. And then this lap, which was not going to be a consequential lap, to unfortunately lock up and go off… we are just checking all the data to see if there is something within the engine management that has contributed to that, so we are going through all that as we speak.”

Comments from Mercedes

Mercedes AMG Team principal did not appear to be overly excited regarding the P2 and P3 finishes by Russell and Hamilton. He stated “I think we need to be careful not to oscillate between mania and depression, but keep the thinking rational…We also know there’s some goodness in the car, especially if we put every step over a wee”kend right and we are able to extract what’s in the car, you can see that.”

Driver George Russell stated, “We weren’t expecting that, that’s for sure. A lot of hard work going on back at the factory, here in Melbourne and wow, what a session for us. The car felt alive; the lap at the end was right on the limit I’ve got to be honest. I was a little bit disappointed that we didn’t get pole position. We’ve got to go for the win. Max is going to be extremely fast, there’s no hiding that. I think it’s difficult to overtake around this circuit so the start, Lap 1, is going to be vital. The Red Bull has extraordinary top speed so it’s going to be very difficult to fight with Max but let’s see how we get on… If the opportunity’s there, we’ll go for it.”

Perez Concerns Heading into Australian Grand Prix

There seemed to be an ongoing issue regarding braking going into FP3 for the No. 11 Red Bull car. Sergio Perez had a costly lock up where he had to recover to the turn run off. The team is following up with the data to determine if something can be done to fix these braking issues prior to the race. Perez will be looking to salvage this race by finishing in the points to keep his championship run alive. There is currently a 10% chance of rain in the area so rain is not likely to be a factor. Melbourne has historically been a race where we can expect multiple opportunities for the grid to be shuffled around. Red Bull will be hopeful that Perez can pullout an effort similar to Max Verstappen in Saudi Arabia recovering from P15 to P2.

Australia Qualifying Results