2023 F1 Azerbaijan GP Sprint: What does the starting grid look like?

F1 witnessed its first-ever Sprint Shootout qualifying ahead of the sprint race down the streets of Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix earlier today (April 29), and the results are as unpredictable as they could be.

This was the second qualifying session for the Grand Prix weekend named the 'Sprint Shootout,' essentially determining the grid for the sprint race later today.

The track was filled with cars leading to the main straight since there was much less time given during the three-part session relative to what is usually given. Owing to this fact, there was chaos to an extent that was seen around the track.

Still, it was quite an enjoyable session. So, here is the starting grid ahead of the F1 Azerbaijan sprint race today.

Grid Position	Driver	Team
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
2	Sergio Perez	Red Bull
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull
4	George Russell	Mercedes
5	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari
6	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
7	Alexander Albon	Williams
8	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin
9	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin
10	Lando Norris	McLaren
11	Oscar Piastri	McLaren
12	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas
13	Esteban Ocon	Alpine
14	Kevin Magnussen	Haas
15	Logan Sargeant	Williams
16	Guanyu Zhou	Alfa Romeo
17	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo
18	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri
19	Pierre Gasly	Alpine
20	Nyck de Vries	AlphaTauri

The new sprint weekend format that F1 approved and is testing out for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has brought in a lot of new things for the fans to keep up with.

With two qualifying sessions, the action has gotten a lot more intense, however, with just one practice session planned, questions have been raised about the incidents.

Quite a few were witnessed during the qualifying session earlier (for the main race). It was speculated that newer drivers were not given enough time with just a single practice session to acquaint themselves with the track. It remains questionable if this new format will continue for the rest of the races on the calendar.

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What to watch out for at the first F1 sprint race in Baku?

The 2023 season is planned to witness the most number of sprint races at different venues; a total of six, and Baku is the first sprint race weekend. This is also the first time that F1 will be hosting a sprint race on this street circuit.

With a very narrow margin for error, there could be a lot of action to witness. Multiple crashes have already been witnessed, including Nyck de Vries, Logan Sargeant, Max Verstappen, and even Charles Leclerc. Because sprint races are much more intense than the main races, drivers usually push a lot harder, which might lead to some of them not finishing.

It was quite surprising for fans to see Verstappen hitting the wall out of one of the corners, which is thought to be the reason he is starting only P3 in the race. At the same time, during the final hot laps, Leclerc crashed into a wall, hence not finishing his lap. However, his previous laptime was enough to earn him the pole position.