Qualifying for the 2022 F1 Azerbaijan GP has been delayed by 15 minutes after the third free practice session underwent the same change following an accident late in the Formula 2 sprint race.
There is no harm that does not come for good, and that has been demonstrated again this Saturday in Baku. Motorsport fans were worried because at 4:00 p.m. in Spain (6:00 p.m. in Azerbaijan) the F1 classification was going to start, and at the same time, in France, the 90th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans started.
However, an accident in the F2 race on Saturday morning, in which Ralph Boschung pressed Calan Williams into the wall at the exit of Turn 1, and the Trident slammed into the barriers, caused this delay.
Baku organizers worked against the clock together with the FIA, but failed to clean up the area and repair the Tecpro barrier in time for the start of the third free practice session, which was delayed 15 minutes and started at 3:15 p.m. local time ( 1:15 p.m. in Spain), 15 minutes later than planned.
And as the regulation requires that there must be at least two hours between the last free practice session and qualifying, the start of Q1 in Baku will suffer the same delay, and will start at 6:15 p.m. local time.
What time is F1 qualifying today at the 2022 Azerbaijan GP in Baku
- Day : Saturday June 11, 2022
- What time is today the classification of the Azerbaijan GP (Baku) of F1 in Spain : Saturday, June 11 at 4:15 p.m.
- What time is today the classification of the Azerbaijan GP (Baku) of F1 in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Panama: Saturday, June 11 at 09:15 a.m.
- What time is today the classification of the Azerbaijan GP (Baku) of F1 in Venezuela, Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay: Saturday, June 11 at 10:15 a.m.
- What time is today the classification of the Azerbaijan GP (Baku) of F1 in Argentina and Uruguay: Saturday, June 11 at 11:15 a.m.
Article 39.1 b) of the F1 Sporting Regulations establishes that on a non-sprint race weekend, qualifying will take place “on the second day of track activity and will start no less than two hours, and no more three golden hours after the end of FP3”.
The FIA reported the move in a statement: “Following the delay in the start of FP3 which was due to the repair of barriers after the F2 sprint race, the start of qualifying will be 15 minutes later than scheduled. in accordance with Article 39 of the sports rules”.
However, despite Le Mans now not starting at the same time as qualifying, the 15-minute delay brings F1 much closer to the time when it starts to get dark in Baku, because qualifying will end around 7:00 p.m.: 3pm local time, less than an hour before sunset.
