Minute by minute, classification for the Azerbaijan GP; Checo Pérez goes for pole

Checo Pérez has shown speed in practice sessions and is emerging as a serious candidate to achieve the privileged position for the Azerbaijan GP

POLE for Charles Leclerc. Checo Pérez will start P2. It is the front row for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Exciting qualifying in Baku. Sainz kissed the wall and lost P1; Max Verstappen had the best sector three but it was not enough, he will start P3 and Carlos P4.

First pass through the goal and Carlos Sainz takes the first position, then LeclercCzech Perez P3 and Max Verstappen P4. Ferrari has a good advantage in sector one. It is a sector that opens with a lot of top speed, because it comes from sector three, and then you have to have good balance to brake at the last moment in the 90-degree turns and good traction to get out of those curves and do the short straights that they join them.

Q3, 12 minutes from pole: Checo Pérez and Charles Leclerc are favourites, but Max Verstappen is perhaps the most clutch driver in F1. As for Sainz, impossible to rule him out, in the end he is on a Ferrari. It’s another classification: Ferrari vs Red Bull.

Q2 ended, eliminated:

Norris
Ricciardo
Ocon
Zhou
Bottas

Czech Perez is put first in Q2. Leclerc brushed the wall to take the apex of a corner. They really are on the edge.

Sebastian Vettel strike. He went head-on, but he hit the tech-pro wall soft and maybe the Aston Martin can do another lap. Vettel was fighting to be in Q3 and usually does well in Baku.

First pass through the finish line: Ferrari 1-2 closely followed by the Red Bulls. One second away from that battle is Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri. Temporarily out: Hamilton, Ocon, Ricciardo Zhou and Bottas.

Q2 is coming. And F1 is against time, as the sun is about to go down in Baku. The drivers will have 15 minutes to make the cut; top 10 advance.

Q1 is over. It was crazy because of the traffic. Those eliminated are:

Magunussen
Albon
Latifi
Stroll
Schumacher

Session reset: 2 minutes 30 seconds left. Almost all the cars leave, the Ferrari and Red Bull are firm for Q2.

RED FLAG: Lance Stroll hits the wall after turn two, which he entered past and lacked a track to exit the turn, what he found was the wall. It was all for the Canadian driver, he is fine but not the Aston Martin.

Chinese rookie pilot, Guanyu Zhou, placed fifth with the Alfa Romeo. That Alfa has proven to be a tough mid-platoon tool, with a Ferrari which gives them the top speed to fight Alpine and sometimes Mercedes. Good return of the young Chinese.

After a first pass through the goal, Verstappen has the reference. The midfield is really close: Mercedes, Alpine, AlphaTauri, McLaren, Aston Martinall those teams have at least one driver who is going really strong in search of a place for Q3.

STARTED Q1: 18 minutes to pass the cut. Fastest 15 advance…

The start of qualifying was delayed by 15 minutes. It will start at 9:15 am in central Mexico. Since the third free practice still took a few minutes.

Czech Perez and his Red Bull position themselves as candidates to achieve pole position in qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prixeighth calendar date of the Formula 1.

Czech Perez he has been the fastest in two of the three previous practice sessions, with a good balance in the car, which has a fearsome top speed, but also stability and maneuverability to face braking and cornering, with good torque to go out of the same with thrust, as it should be done in a circuit with the characteristics of Baku.

The urban circuits require a great commitment in the set-up of the car and that the pilot fully trusts it, since the walls are usually very close –Monaco, Jeddah, Australia-, any mistake means the abandonment of the competition or worse.

Checo Pérez achieved in another urban circuit, Jeddahhis first pole of the season and his first in the F1; Then in Monacohis first victory of 2022. It is no coincidence that it happens on street tracks, the Mexican driver is good at these types of tracks and he is one of the most experienced drivers in F1, so he knows how to put a car for these situations and feel comfortable in the RB18, enough to push to the limit and ‘kiss’ the walls, just as the canon demands to go fast between the streets.

Ferrari and his partner Max Verstappen They are the logical threats and they will be very strong. Any other car or driver would be a big surprise. The pole, if something extraordinary does not happen, will remain between Ferrari o Red Bullbut it is not clear which pilot –Czech and Charles Leclercafter three trials, are the favorites-.

The classification of F1 It is divided into three rounds: