Charles Leclerc wrote his name into the Formula 1 history books as the first ever winner of a Sprint 'shootout' event.
The Ferrari star took pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Friday, doing so for the third year in a row. And his dominance over one lap on the Baku street circuit continued in Saturday morning's second qualifying session.
Even a crash on his final flying lap didn't stop the Monegasque after an excellent first run in SQ3. Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen tried their very best to stop Formula 1's one-lap king, but the Red Bulls will have to flex their muscles in the races to overcome Leclerc.
Logan Sargeant made it through to SQ2 – but settle the result of the first part of the session. He smashed his Williams into the wall with less then a minute to go and the session was red flagged, meaning no-one else would get the opportunity to improve their times.
So Nyck de Vries went slowest with Pierre Gasly in 19th after suffering another problem with his car. Yuki Tsunoda will start the Sprint 18th, behind the two Alfa Romeo drivers with Zhou Guanyu ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
The repair job needed on Sargeant's Williams meant he would not be setting a time in SQ2 and, assuming the car is repaired in time for him to compete in the Sprint, he will start 15th on the grid. Ahead of him on the seventh row will be Kevin Magnussen and Esteban Ocon.
Nico Hulkenberg will start the Sprint 12th while Oscar Piastri had to settle for P11. His team-mate Lando Norris scraped through to SQ3 but cannot go any higher because he had no new soft tyres to use in the final part of the session, so McLaren would have preferred their drivers to be the other way around.
Lance Stroll made it through thanks to a tow from team-mate Fernando Alonso. He qualified ninth on the grid to share the fifth row with Norris behind Alonso in eighth and seventh-placed Alex Albon, who was one of the stand-out performers of the session.
Carlos Sainz's final flying lap was hampered by team-mate Leclerc's crash so the Spaniard starts in P5, and in a Mercedes sandwich. George Russell went faster than the Ferrari man, but Lewis Hamilton had to settle only for sixth place on the grid in the Sprint.
Full 2023 Azerbaijan GP Sprint shootout results
- Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
- Sergio Perez – Red Bull
- Max Verstappen – Red Bull
- George Russell – Mercedes
- Carlos Sainz – Ferrari
- Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
- Alex Albon – Williams
- Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin
- Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
- Lando Norris – McLaren
- Oscar Piastri – McLaren
- Nico Hulkenberg – Haas
- Esteban Ocon – Alpine
- Kevin Magnussen – Haas
- Logan Sargeant – Williams
- Zhou Guanyu – Alfa Romeo
- Valtteri Bottas – Alfa Romeo
- Yuki Tsunoda – AlphaTauri
- Pierre Gasly – Alpine
- Nyck de Vries – AlphaTauri
