These are the schedules and the preview of the Azerbaijan GP of F1 2023.
Formula 1 returns to action this weekend with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, at the Baku Circuit, which will host its seventh round on the calendar of the premier class of motorsports. On this challenging street circuit, famous for the on-track action it often offers and the high probability of safety cars, anything can happen.
Baku will be the fourth round of the 2023 Formula 1 season, in which to date there has only been one winner: Red Bull. Although the revelation of the season has been Aston Martin F1, which has gone from being the seventh team to the second, the energy drink team has been relentless at the beginning of the season, with two victories for Max Verstappen and one for ‘ Checo’ Perez.
With these results, it is no secret that Red Bull arrives in first position in both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships – with Verstappen in the lead – in Baku.
However, no one can guarantee that the dominance now shown by this team will be maintained from now on, since in a month the teams have been able to improve their single-seaters… and perhaps Ferrari, Mercedes or even Aston Martin will take a step forward.
Schedules of the Azerbaijan GP F1 2023
| Day | Session | Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| Friday 28 April 2023 | Free Training 1 | 11:30 a.m. |
| Classification GP Azerbaijan | 3:00 p.m. | |
| Saturday 29 April 2023 | Qualifying Sprint Azerbaijan | 10:30 a.m. |
| Azerbaijan Sprint Race | 3:30 p.m. | |
| Sunday 2 April 2023 | Career | 1:00 p.m. |
Carlos Sainz will try to get even in Azerbaijan for the bad taste in his mouth left by the sanction that the FIA imposed on him in Australia after his accident with Fernando Alonso, running out of points for it. Despite Ferrari’s attempt to reopen the case, the FIA refused due to the little basis of the evidence presented for it.
Although Ferrari started 2023 with good hopes after a 2022 in which they won the two runners-up, the start has not been positive. Leclerc has abandoned two of the three races held so far and Sainz, even though things are going better for him, has not even been able to step on the podium with a car that wears its tires excessively and that is still far from Red Bull.
The Maranello team has also found itself suddenly with the incredible improvement of Aston Martin and with a Mercedes that in Australia has already shown that it can give these two teams a lot of war. If they don’t improve quickly, they can become the weakest link at the top of the grid.
Beyond how things are at a sporting level, it should be noted that in Baku all that counts for little. The circuit is unpredictable, accidents happen regularly, and we have seen several controversies there in the last decade, such as the crash between Hamilton and Vettel in 2017, the accident between Daniel Ricciardo and Verstappen in 2018… or when Alonso ran without two wheels! with his McLaren!
The most recent winner, in 2022, is Max Verstappen, who led the Red Bull team’s double in Baku ahead of Sergio Pérez and George Russell, who completed the podium. Fernando Alonso finished seventh and Carlos Sainz left.
New format to the Sprint in Azerbaijan
The format of the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix changes radically from the rest of the season’s events.
This will be the first sprint-format round of six to be held in 2023, and for the first time, a second qualifying session is introduced on Saturday morning to decide the sprint race grid order: no will take into account the classification on Friday afternoon, which will be used to decide the ‘poleman’ and the grid for Sunday.
From now on, the result of the sprint races will not affect the starting order of the main race, which makes Saturday a totally independent day within the Grand Prix programme.
How and where to watch the Azerbaijan F1 2023 GP?
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix, like all , can be seen live on the DAZN streaming platform. This is the only legal way through which you can follow the premier class races in our country for another year.
To access DAZN’s sports offer (including, among other competitions, F1 and MotoGP), you have to hire one of the packages it offers, including the most basic one offered by motor competitions, such as “DAZN Essential”, which costs €18.99. The “DAZN Total” package, which also includes football, costs €29.99.
DAZN is also available on other digital televisions, such as Movistar TV or Orange TV, which offer it, and sometimes at promotional prices.
