What happened last time out in Baku? A recap from a surprising 2023 race

This weekend, the world of Formula 1 will travel to the city of Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The European leg in the 2024 season finished after the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. As a reminder of what happened last time out around the Baku City Circuit, GPblog looks back on a race result that had a slightly different look to it compared to many results in 2023.

As sprint formats work, qualifying for Sunday's race took part on Friday, with Saturday's sprint shootout deciding the sprint race grid for later in the day. Both qualifying sessions were topped by the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, who was able to beat the rapid RB19 and beat Max Verstappen to P2 by nearly two-tenths of a second. Leclerc was able to do the same in the sprint shootout, this time beating Sergio Perez by nearly two-tenths of a second into P2. However, as was the story of Ferrari's season, they could not convert their opportunities.

Verstappen may have commanded the 2023 F1 season by winning 19 races in the season giving him an 86% win rate, but in Baku, he was not able to stand on the top step of the podium. It was his teammate Sergio Perez instead.

Polesitter Leclerc could not hold onto P1 for long, with the DRS down the long back straight at the Baku City Circuit aiding the RB19 to easily pass the Ferrari after just four laps. Lap six was when Perez was able to make his move past Leclerc.

Perez then took the lead of the race after pitting under a safety car that came out after Nyck de Vries crashed out, with Verstappen pitting before the Mexican while Leclerc stayed in P3. Perez was then able to hold onto his lead and did not come under pressure from Verstappen, allowing him to sail to his first race win of the 2023 season and his second win in Azerbaijan.