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F1 LIVE | The 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku
The 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku is about to get underway. Charles Leclerc will start from pole position in his Ferrari car, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen alongside him on the front row of the grid. It's usually a chaotic race on the Baku City Circuit, and therefore you won't want to miss the fourth round in the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship. Follow the liveblog below!
F1 LIVE | The Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku
Everything is back to normal in the Formula 1 World after an alternative sprint race weekend format appeared in the schedule for the first time. The starting grid for Sunday's Grand Prix was formed in Friday's qualifying session. Saturday saw the whole day dedicated to the sprint. Saturday morning's sprint shootout determined the starting grid that also saw Leclerc in pole position. However, the man from Monaco couldn't hold on to P1 due to Red Bull's dominance in straight-line speed.
It wasn't Verstappen who took the win, though. A small mistake in the sprint shootout and a solid lap from Perez meant that the Dutchman had to settle for third place. He then took some damage after a collision with George Russell in an infamous incident. Verstappen chased down Leclerc in the final stages and got within the one-second DRS range but couldn't make a move.
Whether Sunday's race will be the same remains to be seen. Ferrari have a strong car in the middle sector but are seemingly sitting ducks on the straights. Leclerc will have to master the middle sector and be placed on a better strategy to have a hope of winning his first Grand Prix of the season.
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The grid
Perez will start from third place on the grid, with Carlos Sainz taking fourth place. Lewis Hamilton rounds out the top five on the grid, but his teammate Russell is nowhere near. The younger Mercedes driver missed out on Q3 and therefore starts 11th. However, there are places in the top ten for both McLaren drivers, both Aston Martin cars and Yuki Tsunoda, who has had one of the most interesting weekends of his F1 career.