F1 Azerbaijan Shootout Results: What Happened In The Sprint Shootout?

Your Sports Illustrated report on the first sprint shootout of the year at Azerbaijan.

Welcome to the first sprint shootout, otherwise known as qualifying for the sprint race later today at Azerbaijan. Cars will be using specific tyres for each section, with the FIA forcing them to start on mediums and end SQ3 on new softs. 

SQ1 Overview

With all the cars on new medium tyres as denoted by the FIA, every driver had to be on the limit straight away if they want to excel. 

Alex Albon was the first to complete a lap but was quickly beaten by the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez, and of course, Max Verstappen. 

Oscar Piastri of McLaren followed by AlphaTauri's Nyck de Vries caused a couple of short Sector 1 yellows by overshooting Turn 3, so there was obviously very little grip out there. 

Pierre Gasly, who had an awful day yesterday, was wheeled back into the Alpine pits with three minutes to go, indicating something very wrong with the car.

Logan Sargeant finished SQ1 with a red flag after he hit a wall, crumpling his rear right corner. There's a lot of damage to repair for the sprint race later today. Amazingly, he made it through to SQ2, but obviously won't be taking part.

Out in SQ1

1. Guanyu
2. Bottas
3. Tsunoda
4. Gasly
5. De Vries

SQ2 Overview

All eyes were on Ferrari with Charles Leclerc showing dominance over Verstappen on every part of the track. But Nico Hulkenberg took the focus as he locked up in Sector 2, but was able to get away with only a few flat spots. 

A quartet of Ferraris and Red Bulls lined the top of the timesheet, followed by Alonso and Hamilton who sat at 5th and 6th respectively. 

Norris did make it into SQ3, but because he didn't have the soft tyres required, won't go any further. 

Out in SQ2

1. Piastri
2. Hulkenberg
3. Ocon
4. Magnussen
5. Sargeant

SQ3 Overview

The final third of the sprint shootout only lasts 8 minutes, so our drivers had high pressure to put in a fast lap straight away. And that's exactly what Perez did, beating his teammate. Hamilton and Russell slotted in nicely behind them before Charles Leclerc took provisional pole. 

Alonso struggled a lot with his DRS issues, but Charles Leclerc really struggled with overheating soft tyres, hitting a wall coming to a complete stop. Fortunately, he put in such a good first lap, he still takes home pole position and it looks as though the car is only in need of a replacement nose.

SQ3 Results

1. Leclerc
2. Perez
3. Verstappen
4. Russell
5. Sainz
6. Hamilton
7. Albon
8. Alonso
9. Stroll
10. Norris