by 
Three rounds into the 2023 Formula 1 season and it was a clean sweep for Red Bull. Max Verstappen won two races, finishing second in the other, while his teammate Sergio Pérez won one.
Verstappen, therefore, leads the Drivers’ standings by 15 points behind Pérez with Fernando Alonso third in a resurgent Aston Martin, after taking three third-place finishes in the first three rounds – his best start to a season in 17 years.
Mercedes and Ferrari had tough starts into 2023, with only one podium finish between them.
The fourth round of the year, after a long break due to the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix, is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, held at the Baku City Circuit.
It’s also the first sprint racing weekend on the calendar, which will see the introduction of a second qualifying session after the revamp gains support from the 10 grid teams.
When is it?
The 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend runs from Friday 28 April to Sunday 30 April.
What is the exact format for the sprint weekend?
A new Saturday morning qualifying session will now determine the starting order for the afternoon sprint race, while Friday qualifying will set the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Saturday’s additional qualifying session will be called the “Sprint Shootout” and is shorter than the usual format. The three sessions will last 12, 10 and 8 minutes, with the intention of the final run being shorter to add more risk.
Qualifying for the Grand Prix itself remains the same, with Sunday’s main event intact.
The changes will apply to the other five sprint rounds in Austria, Belgium, Qatar, Austin and Brazil this year, while a regular Grand Prix weekend will remain unchanged.
What time do the sessions start?
Friday 28th April
Practice 1: 10.30am BST
Qualifiers: 2pm
Saturday 29 April
Sprint Shootouts: 9:30
Sprint: 2.30pm
Sunday 30th April
Competition: Noon BST
What TV channel is it on?
Sky Sports F1 have almost exclusive live coverage rights in the UK this year and indeed for the next few with their usual excellent squad.
Sky’s Friday qualifying coverage starts at 1pm on Friday, with their sprint shootout (qualifying) schedule starting at 9am. Sprint race coverage is at 1:30pm, both on Saturdays.
Their coverage for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix starts at 10:30am on Sunday.
Channel 4’s qualifying highlights program starts at 7.50pm on Saturday with coverage of the race at 5.30pm on Sunday.
What do we know about the Albert Park circuit?
-
Circuit length: 6.003km
-
First Grand Prize: 2016
-
Turns: 51
-
Race distance: 306.049km
-
Race lap record: 1:43.009 (Charles Leclerc, 2019)
-
Winner 2022: Max Verstappen, Red Bull
-
Number of corners: 20
-
Possibility of overtaking: Generally quite good. The main one is along the pit straight (which is very, very long if you exclude turn 20 as a proper corner) and into the first corner, with DRS. The moves aren’t impossible elsewhere, but by far the least risky and most likely is the first corner.
What is the current ranking?
Drivers: first 10
Builders:
What are the latest odds?
-
Max Verstappen 4/11
-
Sergio Perez 4/1
-
Fernando Alonso 10/10
-
Lewis Hamilton 14/1
-
Charles Leclerc 28/1
-
George Russell 33/1
-
Charles Sainz 40/1
