The Formula 1 field was close to begin with this year but it has tightened up even more over the last few races.
As of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the eight quickest cars have been covered by less than 1% over the last five races.
Change from practice to qualifying
Changeable conditions in Baku on Saturday made for a challenging qualifying session. As a result some teams failed to tap into their potential.
Only two drivers – front row occupants Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jnr – improved their lap times through all three stages of qualifying. Ferrari failed to beat their fastest time from Friday and both McLaren drivers slipped up in Q3.
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Sector times
Many drivers said the strong winds throughout qualifying plus the constant disruptions caused by red flags made it hard to follow how the track evolved during the session. It’s therefore no surprise drivers largely failed to achieve flawless laps and were further away from achieving them than usual.
| P. | # | Driver | S1 | S2 | S3 | Ultimate lap (deficit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | 35.331 (2) | 40.577 (2) | 24.937 (8) | 1’40.845 (+0.272) |
| 2 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | 35.337 (3) | 40.574 (1) | 25.017 (17) | 1’40.928 (+0.667) |
| 3 | 63 | George Russell | 35.582 (9) | 40.827 (6) | 24.746 (1) | 1’41.155 (+0.300) |
| 4 | 4 | Lando Norris | 35.478 (5) | 40.836 (7) | 24.862 (4) | 1’41.176 (+0.146) |
| 5 | 30 | Liam Lawson | 35.432 (4) | 40.943 (9) | 24.835 (2) | 1’41.210 (+0.327) |
| 6 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | 35.257 (1) | 40.825 (5) | 25.134 (19) | 1’41.216 (+0.198) |
| 7 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | 35.500 (6) | 40.785 (3) | 24.937 (8) | 1’41.222 (+0.236) |
| 8 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | 35.718 (10) | 40.800 (4) | 24.898 (6) | 1’41.416 (+0.048) |
| 9 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | 35.556 (7) | 40.956 (10) | 24.942 (10) | 1’41.454 (+0.193) |
| 10 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | 35.775 (11) | 40.837 (8) | 24.966 (12) | 1’41.578 (+0.210) |
| 11 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | 35.825 (12) | 41.108 (13) | 24.848 (3) | 1’41.781 (+0.076) |
| 12 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | 35.572 (8) | 41.265 (15) | 24.984 (15) | 1’41.821 |
| 13 | 18 | Lance Stroll | 35.944 (15) | 41.106 (12) | 24.868 (5) | 1’41.918 (+0.183) |
| 14 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | 35.854 (13) | 41.070 (11) | 25.111 (18) | 1’42.035 (+0.242) |
| 15 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | 35.907 (14) | 41.759 (19) | 24.947 (11) | 1’42.613 (+0.166) |
| 16 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | 36.461 (19) | 41.225 (14) | 24.935 (7) | 1’42.621 (+0.045) |
| 17 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | 36.126 (16) | 41.775 (20) | 24.978 (14) | 1’42.879 (+0.260) |
| 18 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | 36.348 (18) | 41.592 (16) | 24.976 (13) | 1’42.916 |
| 19 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | 36.311 (17) | 41.634 (17) | 25.012 (16) | 1’42.957 (+0.047) |
| 20 | 23 | Alexander Albon | 36.704 (20) | 41.721 (18) | 25.353 (20) | 1’43.778 |
Teams’ performance
As many drivers hit trouble, including several front runners, midfielders took advantage. Williams only had the sixth-fastest car based on overall times, indicating they should have found it challenging to reach Q3. Yet Sainz was on pole position until the penultimate lap of qualifying.
Liam Lawson also punched above Racing Bulls’ weight. They set the fifth-fastest time out of the 10 teams, yet he qualified third on the grid.
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Pirelli brought tyres which were one step softer than those used last year in Baku. All teams lapped quicker this year but some by more than others.
Ferrari, who claimed pole position at this track in 2024, failed to realise their potential due to Charles Leclerc’s crash and Lewis Hamilton’s Q2 elimination.
Sauber gained more lap time year-on-year than any team bar Racing Bulls. Despite that they were still second-slowest overall.
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Field spread
Sauber sustained the improvement they have made since introducing an upgrade earlier this year. Over the past five races they have been 0.99% slower than the fastest lap time on average.
McLaren, the quickest team on average, have been just 0.04% away. The gap between those two teams – the fastest and eighth-fastest – is therefore just 0.95%.
All bar two teams – Haas and Alpine – have averaged within 1% of the fastest lap time over the last five races. This goes to show how astonishingly close F1 has become as it nears the end of the current regulations.
To put this into comparison, over the final five races of the previous engine rule formula in 2013 (V8s), only the top three teams were covered by less than 1%. Nine teams (out of 11) were covered by 1.6%, whereas today all 10 are contained within a spread of just 1.38%.
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Field performance
Had the weather conditions remained stable we could well have seen a new track record set in Baku. But Leclerc’s 2023 mark of 1’40.203 remains safe for now.
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