Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying betting tips and F1 predictions: Red Bull out to continue dominance on Baku streets

Where to watch Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying

Practice
Sky Sports F1, 10.30am

Qualifying
Sky Sports F1, 2pm

Best bets

Sergio Perez to outqualify Max Verstappen
1pt 4-1 bet365

Alex Albon to reach Q3
1pt 5-2 bet365

George Russell to win Qualifying Group 2
1pt 13-8 bet365

Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying predictions

After an unscheduled four-week break, Formula 1 returns with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The teams haven’t been sitting on their hands during the time they would have been competing in China, though. Instead, they have been pulling out all the stops at their factories in an effort to improve their cars and catch up with the mighty Red Bulls.

We could see a shake-up in the pecking order as a result, but it will be a huge shock if the Bulls are not still setting the pace.

This weekend sees the first of six scheduled sprint races, but the format has been tweaked from what we have seen over the last two years.

Instead of the result of the Saturday race deciding Sunday’s grid, the sprint will now have its own dedicated qualifying session on Saturday morning.

The Friday qualifying session now decides Sunday’s Grand Prix grid, meaning that going off in the sprint no longer ruins your chances in the main event. Organisers hope this will lead to drivers taking more risks in the shorter race. 

Defending champion Max Verstappen has dominated the early part of the season and arrives in Baku with a 15-point lead over his team-mate Sergio Perez in the drivers' championship.

Both have been hampered by reliability issues in qualifying though, with Verstappen suffering a driveshaft failure in Q2 in Saudi Arabia and Perez experiencing brake issues in Australia that saw him slide into the gravel on his first flying lap.

Perez – a confirmed street-circuit specialist –will be looking forward to this weekend after a frustrating time in Melbourne.

The Mexican out-qualified Verstappen around the tricky Baku track last year, before finishing second to the Dutchman in the race, and Perez won in Azerbaijan the previous year.

He usually gets the better of Verstappen in qualifying a few times a season and held off the charging world champion to win in Jeddah last month, so the 4-1 about him qualifying ahead of the Dutchman looks generous.

Alex Albon’s weekend in Australia summed up his F1 career to date. After qualifying a superb eighth, he surpassed that by running sixth early in the race, only to spoil it by spinning off and crashing into a wall.

Albon’s Williams has done well at high-speed tracks in recent seasons, where its lack of downforce hasn’t been such a hindrance, and the Thai-British racer can again qualify in the top half of the field.

Mercedes' hopes of challenging for the title this year seem to be already over, but they are making progress after a disappointing start.

Having been slower than Red Bull, Ferrari and Aston Martin in Bahrain, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton qualified second and third in Australia last time and ran first and second early in the race.

Bad timing of a red flag dropped Russell down the field, and he later retired with engine failure anyway, but Hamilton was able to finish second to demonstrate the Silver Arrows' improvement.

Russell has out-qualified the seven-time world champion in all three races so far and with Mercedes having vowed to pursue an aggressive development strategy, he will have his eye on another prominent starting berth. 

Bet365 make Russell second-favourite in a qualifying group that also features both Ferrari drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

The Ferrari had looked particularly sharp in qualifying at the start of the season but they seemed to have dropped back in Australia. The Aston, meanwhile, has looked stronger in race trim than over a single lap.

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