At 14:00 local time, the Baku street circuit baked under the blazing sun. The track surface temperature surged toward 38 degrees Celsius, the barriers along the edges reflecting blinding light, the heat so intense it seemed to warp the air itself.
Six broadcast cameras swept across the circuit as Q1 of the 2021 F2 Baku round officially got underway.
The session used a free pit-exit format with no segment eliminations. Drivers only needed to secure a place inside the top fifteen to lock in their position, with all cars waiting in the pit lane while teams chose their own release timing.
Plenty of drivers had already poured out of the pits, starting their warm-up laps to feel out the pace. The track quickly grew congested, overtaking space shrinking to almost nothing.
Inside the Prema pit, Mark watched the track feeds and issued calm instructions to Alex Sun.
"Hold for now. Don't go out yet. There are too many cars on track—no clean space. Both the warm-up and flying laps will be compromised. We'll wait for this group to finish and clear the circuit."
Alex Sun tightened his helmet strap, fingers tapping lightly against the edge of the steering wheel as he tracked the flow of traffic.
"Understood. I'll wait for your call. Running in a pack right now is just wasting tyres and asking to get your line disrupted. We'll go once they've cleared a window."
Sato from Trident Racing followed the crowd onto the circuit as well. The roar of his engine carried through the pit wall, low and muffled yet sharply penetrating.
Mark added, "You're on a fresh set of Medium tyres. Once the space opens up, push properly. Don't worry about lap-time limits—just get a solid banker in. We've only got two sets of supersofts, so save those for Q2 and Q3 to fight for pole. If this Medium run is clean, we won't need to burn tyres again in Q1."
Sky Sports commentary filtered through the broadcast feed. Rob Smedley's voice carried a professional edge as he assessed the situation.
"18 minutes on the clock for Q1. Multiple cars flooding out together has instantly congested the circuit. Prema choosing to sit tight and wait for a gap—very sensible strategy."
His co-commentator followed up, "With track temperatures at 38 degrees, the Medium tyre has a narrow operating window. Add the current traffic, and forcing a run now would only invite disruption. Prema clearly wants to give Alex Sun a clean flying lap once the pack clears."
Leaning back in the cockpit, Alex Sun adjusted his shoulders and neck and spoke steadily into the mic.
"Copy that. I'll stay patient. Sato and the others are all bunched up now—might as well let them scrub the track a bit. I'll head out after their run."
He glanced at the tyre data on his strategy screen, replaying the lines he'd refined during the morning practice session in his mind.
Turns 1 and 4 at Baku left very little margin for error. Alex Sun already had a plan—use the stability of the Medium tyres to produce a lap that balanced speed with smoothness.
Gradually, the rhythm of the circuit settled. Most of the drivers who had rushed out early finished their flying laps and peeled off into cooldown runs, heading back toward the pits. Traffic thinned dramatically, and a clean window finally opened.
Mark watched the monitors closely. Seeing the timing was right, he spoke through the TR.
"Get ready. The track's almost clear. Once the last few cars on cooldown pass the pit entry, you're good to go."
Alex Sun nodded, hands tightening around the wheel. The engine idled with a muted growl as he brought everything up to temperature, settings dialed in and posture coiled, waiting for the final call.
At exactly 14:04, a harsh metallic impact rang out from the northern end of the circuit, violently breaking the flow of the session.
Mark's voice snapped through the TR, urgent but controlled.
"Alex Sun, stop! Sato's crashed—Turn 1, into the wall! The clean track we just had is gone!"
Alex Sun immediately halted his launch sequence, eyes snapping to the live feed on the strategy screen.
Sato, most likely desperate to squeeze in one last flying lap, had carried too much speed into Turn 1. The brakes locked, and the car went straight into the inside barrier. The front suspension snapped on impact, the car skewing sideways into the runoff area as the first red flag of the session was thrown.
The broadcast cut straight to the accident scene. Smedley's voice jumped in pitch, full of shock.
"Oh my god! Sato's hit the wall! Locked up at Turn 1 and slammed straight into the barrier—the front suspension is gone!"
On screen, the nose of Sato's car was completely destroyed, debris scattered across the asphalt as marshals rushed recovery vehicles toward the scene.
The co-commentator cut to the heart of the issue.
"He was too eager to push and ignored brake degradation in this heat. The tyres weren't fully up to temperature, and he entered the corner nearly eight kilometers per hour faster than the car ahead. That was pure overcommitment."
The crash meant immediate retirement, with no valid lap time recorded. The track, which had just cleared, was now littered with debris, completely wrecking Alex Sun's pit-exit plan.
Inside the Prema pit area, engines continued to rumble. Alex Sun's personal assistant, Rebecca Lin, stood in the viewing zone wearing the team's custom visitor noise-canceling headset. The bright red body with white trim matched the team's colors, its heavy noise reduction filtering out everything except the public commentary and race announcements.
Watching the crash replay, she clenched her bottle of water so tightly her knuckles turned white, eyes locked on Alex Sun's car and the strategy screen, her tension and lingering fear impossible to hide.
A passing logistics crew member noticed her stiff posture and commented casually,
"Good thing Alex Sun hadn't gone out yet. If he'd just started a warm-up lap when the red flag came out, that would've wasted tyres and messed with his rhythm."
Rebecca Lin's heart skipped. Her fingers rubbed the bottle unconsciously as she murmured under her breath,
"Good thing he stayed in. Tyres wear fast in this heat—running a lap for nothing would've been such a waste. Better to wait until the track is completely clear…"
She quietly loosened her grip, feet shifting instinctively toward Alex Sun's car, relieved that the new set of Medium tyres hadn't been burned for nothing.
Race control issued a synchronized message over the TR.
"Qualifying is suspended. Estimated suspension time is five minutes. All drivers are prohibited from leaving the pits. Drivers currently on track must proceed immediately to the pit-lane entry and wait."
Inside the pit, Alex Sun adjusted his helmet, eyes fixed on the cleanup progress on the monitors. He muttered into the mic,
"Sato really went for it—causing chaos right at the start. Good thing we didn't rush."
Mark kept his gaze on the screens, reorganizing their plan.
"This actually works for us. We'll let the track clear completely. Once we're back underway, you go out and put in one solid lap—get a safety time on the board.
"Something feels off today. There'll probably be more incidents. Don't stress about Medium tyre wear—just stick to your rhythm."
"Copy."
At 14:09, the debris was fully cleared, the barriers inspected and approved. Qualifying resumed on schedule.
Mark immediately gave the order.
"Alex Sun, out now. One warm-up lap, then straight into a flying lap. New Mediums at 2.3 bar. Move your Turn 1 braking point back half a meter. Watch the track conditions—set a valid time first, then push."
"Roger!"
Alex Sun engaged the gear and launched. The car rolled cleanly out of the pit box, merged into the pit lane, engine revs climbing steadily as he headed back toward the circuit.
(Author's Note:
I chose to use an F1-style knockout qualifying format (Q1–Q3) in this story because it fits the pacing and tension I wanted for the narrative, even though I'm aware that Formula 2 normally uses a single 30-minute qualifying session. This was a deliberate creative choice.)