2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, April 28 - 30

[atanatizante]

Interesting top speeds for us to see which teams are working on race pace, qualy or both:




Also, some info regarding which tyres drivers were using in order to see the big picture of the weekend:

[search]

Interesting to see Mr. FA and Sir LH did their best time on medium and didn’t use the soft.

I guess most others will need to take those used softs for Q1 now, so it kinda made sense.

Alpha Tauri even used two sets of Softs, so if they make it to Q3 today, they may run out of tyres for the Sprint Shootout.

[SiLo]

Gasly already last for the main race on Sunday is so dumb. Plus, if they struggle with setup or pace, also no point even bothering with the sprint either as it means nothing anymore. Might as well just start from the pits each session, and run it like a test.

[Sieper]

Gasly already last for the main race on Sunday is so dumb. Plus, if they struggle with setup or pace, also no point even bothering with the sprint either as it means nothing anymore. Might as well just start from the pits each session, and run it like a test.

That is exactly the problem of this format. It is all about spectacle, generating click, interest and thus MONEY for the owners of F1 while if ANY of the drivers have bad luck they are immediately out of it. The luck of the draw. Which is what they want at the top. People out of position, even more spectacle.

[AR3-GP]

Gasly already last for the main race on Sunday is so dumb. Plus, if they struggle with setup or pace, also no point even bothering with the sprint either as it means nothing anymore. Might as well just start from the pits each session, and run it like a test.

That is exactly the problem of this format. It is all about spectacle, generating click, interest and thus MONEY for the owners of F1 while if ANY of the drivers have bad luck they are immediately out of it. The luck of the draw. Which is what they want at the top. People out of position, even more spectacle.

Why not just draw the qualifying order out of a hat? Draws are done using random selection in many other sports.

[chrisc90]

What’s next then? Qualifying for the race or the sprint race tomorrow?

[DGP123]

Next is qualifying for Sunday

As for the event, just a horrible format, for me. Gasly be better off heading to the airport. Just a desperate attempt to cause chaos this weekend by the FIA. Even giving the teams an extra £300k for the expected damages. Just embarrassing really. Shame the direction this sport has headed. This will just be a red flag fest this weekend

[SiLo]

Gasly already last for the main race on Sunday is so dumb. Plus, if they struggle with setup or pace, also no point even bothering with the sprint either as it means nothing anymore. Might as well just start from the pits each session, and run it like a test.

That is exactly the problem of this format. It is all about spectacle, generating click, interest and thus MONEY for the owners of F1 while if ANY of the drivers have bad luck they are immediately out of it. The luck of the draw. Which is what they want at the top. People out of position, even more spectacle.

Why not just draw the qualifying order out of a hat? Draws are done using random selection in many other sports.

Can't charge punters exorbitant ticket fees for the weekend if it's just draw from a hat!

[Sevach]

[fourmula1]

Gasly already last for the main race on Sunday is so dumb. Plus, if they struggle with setup or pace, also no point even bothering with the sprint either as it means nothing anymore. Might as well just start from the pits each session, and run it like a test.

Is he last because they cant get car ready for quali in time? If so, theres no difference between this and if it had happened tomorrow on a normal weekend right? I feel like you can make the same comments on normal race weekend….oh he is bottom 10 with a bad setup might as well not show up. Oh starting from pit lane run it as a test.

I am not sold on this particular format but at this point in F1 give me more quali type sessions. I prefer competition over practice and it sounds like the drivers are ok with that too (less total sessions/practice).

I’m sure there is some new format out there most of us can get on board with, with some tweaking.

[SiLo]

Gasly already last for the main race on Sunday is so dumb. Plus, if they struggle with setup or pace, also no point even bothering with the sprint either as it means nothing anymore. Might as well just start from the pits each session, and run it like a test.

Is he last because they cant get car ready for quali in time? If so, theres no difference between this and if it had happened tomorrow on a normal weekend right? I feel like you can make the same comments on normal race weekend….oh he is bottom 10 with a bad setup might as well not show up. Oh starting from pit lane run it as a test.

I am not sold on this particular format but at this point in F1 give me more quali type sessions. I prefer competition over practice and it sounds like the drivers are ok with that too (less total sessions/practice).

I’m sure there is some new format out there most of us can get on board with, with some tweaking.

Yes, the point is about 20 minutes into the entire weekend, you already know his Sunday is ruined. Plus, Saturday doesn't really mean anything anymore, so they might as well turn it into a test weekend and just learn something from the car. It changes the entire dynamic.

If it happened on a normal weekend, they would already have done practice sessions, had car setup etc, so the potential for a good recovery drive is greater, plus they likely miss NO sessions because there is plenty of time to fix the car between qualifying and the race.

[AR3-GP]

Gasly already last for the main race on Sunday is so dumb. Plus, if they struggle with setup or pace, also no point even bothering with the sprint either as it means nothing anymore. Might as well just start from the pits each session, and run it like a test.

Is he last because they cant get car ready for quali in time? If so, theres no difference between this and if it had happened tomorrow on a normal weekend right?

It wouldn't have happened "tomorrow" on a normal weekend because it happened today. Normal weekend or not.

[ValeVida46]

Fred got a fat tow off that Ferrari on the main straight to do his time.
Interesting that he and Hamilton did their times on the mediums, and were withing 0.250 of each other.
Accounting for the tow, seems neck and neck between AM and Merc, but Ferrari seem to have that one lap pace.
If the trend continues we will see them drop off during the race, but the sprint might throw up a surprise.

[RedNEO]

Alonso still didn’t have DRS on his fastest lap. Hopefully they can shake it off for qualifying.

[Sieper]

Practice starts of the Ferrari’s seemed very good too. Sprint race win for Leclerc is in the cards. To me Mercedes was looking quick too. But the track evolution makes it very hard to judge.