Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Practice 3 & Qualifying: Review

✦  Free Practices:
  ✮ FP3:

During start for the first session of this Saturday (14), it was drizzling in Baku. In a moment Norris even talk about this with his engineer:

Norris: “Some very light drops of rain”

Engineer: “Understood. So far we’ve not seen them affect the track at any point”.

• Max was the first to get on the track and he said the track was damp
• We had some drivers going out, but 12min into the session, and no one had mark a speed lap

Leclerc’s saga - part 2.2:

What it was bent it wasn’t a structural problem, for what he said it was a small extra piece that they were testing, but it didn’t work out.

• Red flag: Ocon’s car turned off
• 39:35 green flag, cars on track

Red flag: Bearman went to the escape area, and crashed on the wall the left side, he decided to remember everyone he’s Leclerc’s son: “I’m such an idiot”. Do I have to explain the joke?

Well... the first part of the lore of Ollie being Leclerc's son, this started with the fans during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, when Bearman replace Sainz 'cause the Spaniard driver went down an appendix surgery

The second part it's a reference to the qualifying of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, in 2019, more specific Q2, where Leclerc said: "I'm stupid"

Photo by F1 via F1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix

• 21:10 - cars back on track, the drizzle persists
• Hamilton escaping

Russell: “Just check the PU. Something feels, and sounds, a little bit funny. Mainly under braking and off throttle”. Reminder, yesterday his PU was change for a old one, and he also had a problem on a sensor that mislead saying there was a water leak

• Russell escaping and he said: “The ride feels terrible down the straight under braking”
• Gasly escaping
• A small moment between Sainz and Checo
• Hulk escaping and Verstappen small touch on the wall close to the castle and took out part of the ad sticker.

         ➤ PENALTY:

➺ Perez impeding Sainz at Turn 15: Warning

➺ Zhou changed the following Power Unit elements have been used:

       3rd Energy Store (ES)

       3rd Control Electronics (CE)

       So he will start the race from the back of the starting grid.

Photo by F1 via F1 on Threads

✦  Qualifying:
  ✮ Q1:

• All soft drivers, only Mercedes with medium
• Max complained about the car jumping
• Sainz escaping
• Ocon hits the wall. It's not been a good weekend for the Frenchman
• Norris made a mistake, but he would be able to save the lap and go to Q2, but he got caught by the yellow flag due to Ocon being slow, and the team made the mistake to ask him to come back to the box
• Out in Q1:
• P16 - Daniel Ricciardo
• P17 - Lando Norris
• P18 - Valtteri Bottas
• P19 - Zhou Guanyu
• P20 - Esteban Ocon

 ✮ Q2:

• Russell complaining about Little Bear and Franco on the way to get out of the pitlane
• Leclerc complaining that he's on the track alone when they [the team] are going to release him with someone so he can take advantage of the slipstream
• Bearman is angry about not being in Q2 and blaming himself for a mistake, saying again "I'm such an idiot"
• Out in Q2:
• P11 - Ollie Bearman
• P12 - Yuki Tsunoda
• P13 - Pierre Gasly
• P14 - Nico Hulkenberg
• P15 - Lance Stroll

         ➤ PENALTY:

➺ Yuki Tsunoda speeding in the pit lane (83.5 km/h), 3.5km/h over what is allow: Visa Cash App RB F1 Tem is fined €400.

➺ ‘Cause the car 10 (Gasly) exceeded the instantaneous fuel mass flow limit, over 100Kg/h. The car 10 is disqualified from the qualifying classification.

  ✮ Q3:

Oscar: "The Williams still has the airbox fan in”

This neglect was one of the funniest things I saw, but at the same time how no one realize that big yellow thing in a blue car and helmet?

• Top 10:
• P1 - Charles Leclerc
• P2 - Oscar Piastri
• P3 - Carlos Sainz
• P4 - Checo Perez
• P5 - George Russell
• P6 - Max Verstappen
• P7 - Lewis Hamilton
• P8 - Fernando Alonso
• P9 - Franco Colapinto
• P10 - Alex Albon

Photo by FIA via FIA website

         ➤ PENALTY:

➺ Because Williams released Albon in an unsafe condition and the discard of the cooling equipment

    PENALTY: Williams Racing is fined €5,000.

If no one asks to start from the pit lane, here is the grid for tomorrow

Photo by FIA via Doc 45 - Provisional Starting Grid

So, see you soon!

Fondly, Nina