On Track

Qualifying report by Aramco: Azerbaijan GP

The tight city circuit proved to be challenging for today's qualifying, but Sebastian secured a ninth-place start ahead of tomorrow's Azerbaijan GP.

Unusually for practice sessions, FP3 took place at the same time as Sunday's race, meaning data collected was especially relevant at helping with everything from track temperature to the sun's positioning.

Sebastian

Sebastian was one of the first drivers out on track for FP3, testing a few laps on both the Medium and Hard compound tyres before settling in on Softs for the rest of the session.

Plenty of time in the garage with the engineers allowed his track time to keep improving, and he finished the session in 10th place and a time of 1.44.689 after 18 laps. 

Starting qualifying on Soft tyres, Sebastian put in impressive lap times and found himself sitting in fifth place with a time of 1.43.279, until a red flag caused by team mate Lance Stroll halted the session.

After the track reopened, Sebastian finished the session in sixth place. 

Preview by Cognizant

Azerbaijan GP

Long straights, high speeds and close brushes with the wall make the Azerbaijan Grand Prix an action-packed race.

Learn more

In Q2, a double lock-up at Turn 15 led him to make contact with the barrier, but he managed to return to the garage to check for any damage. Thankfully, his session time of 1.43.268 still held strong, so he retained a seventh-position place. 

Sebastian returned for his second consecutive Q3 on a new set of Soft tyres, putting in a best time of 1.43.091 and qualifying in ninth position ahead of tomorrow's race. 

"I'm pretty happy with ninth position – another half-a-tenth and I could have jumped Yuki [Tsunoda], but, overall, I think it was a good session for us.

"In Q2, I locked up into Turn 15 – I wasn't sure if I could make it, then I thought I could, then I decided the best option was just to go in straight and risk damaging the front wing. That worked and I managed to crash wisely!

"The race will be all about controlling the tyres, and they will be tricky to manage tomorrow. It will be a lot hotter than qualifying was, but I am looking forward to it.

"I've been around a while, so I think I can benefit from all the experience I have."

Lance

An early outing to the track allowed plenty of time to test out all the Hard, Medium and Soft tyre compounds during the FP3 session. Lance's strong lap times meant he sat within the top ten positions in the final 15 minutes of the session and finished in 13th place with a time of 1.44.879 with 17 laps in the bag. 

However, an unfortunate double front lock-up into Turn 7 meant Lance made contact with the barrier, and a subsequent front impact at Turn 2 caused a red flag.

"Obviously I am frustrated with how qualifying finished - I simply braked too late into Turn Two. After my first lock-up [at Turn Seven], the car still felt okay, and I knew we were running out of time in the session, which is why I decided to stay out and try for another fast lap. 

"It is unfortunate, but there are plenty of overtaking opportunities here at Baku, and as we have seen many times before, anything can happen here. There is still plenty to fight for tomorrow."

Mike Krack, Team Principle

"Lance had a troubled Q1, first locking up, running wide and tapping the wall at Turn Seven, then hitting the Turn Two wall hard enough to end his run. But tomorrow is another day, and this is a circuit on which he has done very well in the past. 

"Sebastian was very good today - confident, fast, and solid apart from a light wall-tap at Turn 15 in Q2. He ended up P9, and is therefore in a strong position from which to drive for points tomorrow."