F1 LIVE | The Sprint Shootout: Qualifying for the sprint race in Baku

The Sprint Shootout is about to start for the first time in Formula 1, forming the grid for the sprint race taking place in Baku on Saturday afternoon during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend. This is the liveblog of the second qualifying session of the weekend, but with a slightly different format is used both, in terms of time and tyre strategy. On Friday, Charles Leclerc pipped Max Verstappen to pole position. Will the same happen again?

During sprint race weekends, there are two qualifying sessions and two races. The sessions on Saturday, the shootout quali and the sprint race, are shorter than the normal qualifying and the normal race. This is the first time that this format has been used.

The sprint shootout is not only shorter but also dictates different rules. Qualifying still consists of three different blocks. Q1 now lasts 12 minutes and has five dropouts. Q2 lasts 10 minutes and again has five dropouts. The last one, Q3, lasts just eight minutes and is only for the last ten drivers. In SQ1 and SQ2, a fresh set of medium tyres is mandatory. And in SQ3, a fresh set of the soft.

McLaren and AlphaTauri both have no fresh set of soft tyres left for Lando Norris and Yuki Tsunoda. That means that, should they manage to make SQ3, they may not take part in this session. There seems to have been a trade-off instead, as Norris got to P7 in qualifying with his soft tyre on Friday. That may be worth more come the end of the weekend, as the points available on Sunday are greater.

Interestingly, Verstappen was beaten on Friday by Ferrari driver Leclerc. Red Bull Racing and its drivers Verstappen and Sergio Perez were initially named the clear-cut favourites. That was not just in Baku, too. For the whole season, they have been touted as favourites. Qualifying on Friday marks the first time this season that Red Bull has been beaten.

There may also be a consideration by Red Bull not to ask too much of the car and driver. The points are also more important for the championship leaders on Sunday.