A recap of how the first sprint race of the 2023 season unfolded.
George Russell says he has “mixed feelings” despite “exceeding expectations” with fourth on the grid for the Baku sprint race.
Leclerc has explained that he was trying to limit the damage to his Ferrari car once he knew he was heading for a crash on his final lap of qualifying for the sprint race.
“I tried to catch it and then I knew there was nowhere out after that," he said.
That's a wrap on our coverage of the Sprint Shootout, but we will be back from 2pm to build-up to the first Sprint race of the season.
It is set to be an exciting one!
Leclerc after taking pole for the sprint: "With the soft it was a little tricky because we hadn't driven on the tyres since yesterday.
"The conditions are very different, it was behaving much differently. The rear overheated on the second lap, I tried to push a bit more to gain some lap time and lost it in turn five.
"It's a shame if Carlos was improving. But I'm very happy with the first lap and we now need to confirm that in the race.
"We will go for it. We need to be realistic and until now we have been on the back foot in the race. The Red Bull seems to be a step ahead.
"Let's see how it is, hopefully we will get a good surprise. I think we improved the car quite a bit but today we will have more of an answer of where we are compared to them.
"I will do everything for it. Ferrari needs to be on top and I will do everything to win."
Here are the full results from the first-ever Sprint Shootout qualifying session.
Despite hitting the barriers on his final run, Leclerc has clinched pole for the sprint race ahead of the Red Bull pair of Perez and Verstappen.
A late improvement sees Russell move himself up to fourth, ahead of Sainz and Mercedes teammate Hamilton.
Albon is seventh for Williams, ahead of Aston Martin pair Alonso and Stroll.
We should have time to get one more flying lap in. Can Leclerc hold onto pole, or will the Red Bulls fight back?
It's Leclerc who has set the time for the rest to beat with a 1m41.697s.
The Ferrari driver is 0.179s faster than Perez, who heads Red Bull teammate Verstappen by three-tenths.
Sainz slots into fourth, ahead of the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Russell.
It's time to find out who will take pole for the sprint race. Will Verstappen continue his early pace-setting form, or can Leclerc challenge him?
Despite pipping McLaren teammate Piastri to reach SQ3, Norris won't be allowed to take part in the final part of qualifying due to a rule quirk relating to the tyres.
11) Piastri, McLaren
12) Hulkenberg, Haas
13) Ocon, Alpine
14) Magnussen, Haas
15) Sargeant, Williams
Verstappen leads the way from Leclerc, who improved late on to get within 0.083s of the Dutchman.
Sainz is third, ahead of Perez, Alonso and the two Mercedes headed by Hamilton.
Leclerc has managed to split the Red Bulls by putting his Ferrari second, some 0.3s behind Verstappen. Perez is third ahead of Alonso.
Verstappen pumps in a 1m42.417s to head Red Bull teammate Perez by half a second.
Hamilton puts his Mercedes third while Hulkenberg causes a brief yellow flag with a moment down at Turn 7.
Once again there is a queue at the end of the pitlane as the drivers jostle for position heading into the second part of this qualifying session.
Green flag and we are underway!
Despite progressing into SQ2 with the 11th-fastest time, Sargeant won't take any further part in the Sprint Shootout after damaging the rear-end of his Williams with his hit with the barriers.
He will start 15th for the sprint race later.
16) Zhou, Alfa Romeo
17) Bottas, Alfa Romeo
18) Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
19) Gasly, Alpine
20) De Vries, AlphaTauri
Leclerc sets the pace in SQ1 on a 1m42.820s, four-tenths up on Verstappen.
Hamilton is third for Mercedes, ahead of Sainz's Ferrari and Russell.
A late red flag comes out as Sargeant hits the wall. The session will not be resumed.
Gasly's nightmare weekend looks to be continuing. The Alpine driver is currently 19th and back in the pits with less than two minutes to go.
Leclerc, who topped Friday qualifying, now takes top spot with a 1m43.372s.
The Ferrari driver is 0.191s quicker than Verstappen at this stage, as Stroll slots into P3.
It's Hamilton who sets the early benchmark time with a 1m44.739s.
But things are changing all the time with lap times tumbling as the drivers complete multiple runs.
Piastri just took a trip down the escape road but has managed to get going again.
Here we go then - straight into the action. Let's see what this new format is all about.
While the Sprint Shootout follows the same format as traditional qualifying, it is a shortened version with some slightly different rules.
Lewis Hamilton was pictured having a catch up with Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur in the paddock this morning.
Rumours of a sensational switch to Ferrari continue to follow Hamilton while he is yet to sign a new contract with Mercedes.
Is there anything to this, or simply just a catch up between old friends?
Vasseur was in charge of the ART team Hamilton won the GP2 title with in 2006, prior to making his F1 debut the following year.
And in case you've forgotten, here's a handy explainer for how it will all work today.
