2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Race 4 of 22[lower-alpha 1] in the 2023 Formula One World Championship
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Layout of the Baku City Circuit
Layout of the Baku City Circuit
Race details[2][3]
Date 30 April 2023 (2023-04-30)
Official name Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2023
Location Baku City Circuit
Baku, Azerbaijan
Course Street circuit
Course length 6.003 km (3.730 miles)
Distance 51 laps, 306.049 km (190.170 miles)
Weather Partly cloudy
Pole position
Driver
Ferrari
Time 1:40.203
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes
Time 1:43.370 on lap 51
Podium
First
Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT
Second
Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT
Third
Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2023) was a Formula One motor race held on 30 April 2023 at the Baku City Circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan. It was the fourth round of the 2023 Formula One World Championship and the first of six in the season to follow the sprint format.

Charles Leclerc started both events from pole position, with Sergio Pérez winning both events. During the final lap of the race, an incident occurred where Alpine driver Esteban Ocon was forced to avoid several photographers that had begun to cross the pit lane while coming in for a pit stop.

Background

The event was held across the weekend of 28–30 April 2023.[2] It was the fourth round of the 2023 Formula One World Championship. The weekend was the first of six in the season to follow the sprint format.[4]

Weekend format

The event was the first in the season to feature a new format specifically adopted for those Grands Prix which include the additional sprint race. The format consisted of a single practice session on Friday, followed by the qualifying session which determined the grid for the Sunday's Grand Prix. On Saturday, a new qualifying session called "sprint shootout", in place of the former second practice session, was run, determining the grid for the sprint. The traditional Grand Prix took place on Sunday. The new sprint shootout qualifying was run shorter than the traditional qualifying: the first segment (SQ1) was 12 minutes, the second segment (SQ2) was 10 minutes, and the third segment (SQ3) was 8 minutes. In addition, new tyres were mandatory for each phase, with mediums for SQ1 and SQ2, and softs for SQ3.[5]

Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Max Verstappen led the World Drivers' Championship with 69 points, 15 points ahead of his teammate Sergio Pérez in second, and 24 ahead of Fernando Alonso in third. Red Bull Racing, with 123 points, led the Constructors' Championship from Aston Martin and Mercedes, who were second and third with 65 and 56 points, respectively.[6]

Entrants

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.[7]

Tyre choices

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C3, C4, and C5 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.[8]

Track changes

The second DRS activation point was moved 100 metres (330 ft) farther ahead, being positioned 447 metres (1,467 ft) after turn 20.[9]

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on 28 April 2023 at 17:00 local time (UTC+4) and determined the starting order for the main race.[2]

Qualifying report

Following fire damage to his Alpine during the practice session,[10] Pierre Gasly's car was repaired prior to qualifying. Zhou Guanyu spun at turn 1, but recovered the car; moments later, Nyck de Vries locked up at turn 3 and crashed into the wall, damaging his suspension and causing a red flag. He failed to post a lap time fast enough to clear the 107% time, but the stewards allowed him to race. Following the restart, Gasly hit the wall at the same corner de Vries crashed into earlier, causing a second red flag. Zhou, the two Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg, Gasly and de Vries were knocked out of the first session (Q1).

The second session (Q2) saw George Russell, Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas and the two Williamses of Alexander Albon and Logan Sargeant all knocked out. The Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll suffered a DRS issue throughout qualifying, hindering their laps and leaving them sixth and ninth respectively.[11]

Charles Leclerc secured pole position ahead of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez; this was his third consecutive pole in the Baku City Circuit, his and the Ferrari team's first since the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix. His lap time of 1:40.203 set a new unofficial lap record at the circuit,[lower-alpha 2] beating the previous time of 1:40.495 set by Valtteri Bottas for Mercedes at the 2019 edition.[12]

Qualifying classification

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Qualifying times Final
grid
Q1 Q2 Q3
1 16 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:41.269 1:41.037 1:40.203 1
2 1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 1:41.398 1:40.822 1:40.391 2
3 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 1:41.756 1:41.131 1:40.495 3
4 55 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1:42.197 1:41.369 1:41.016 4
5 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:42.113 1:41.650 1:41.177 5
6 14 Spain Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 1:41.720 1:41.370 1:41.253 6
7 4 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:42.154 1:41.485 1:41.281 7
8 22 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT 1:42.234 1:41.569 1:41.581 8
9 18 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 1:42.524 1:41.576 1:41.6111 9
10 81 Australia Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:42.455 1:41.636 1:41.6111 10
11 63 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 1:42.073 1:41.654 N/A 11
12 31 France Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 1:42.622 1:41.798 N/A PL2
13 23 Thailand Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:42.171 1:41.818 N/A 12
14 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1:42.582 1:42.259 N/A 13
15 2 United States Logan Sargeant Williams-Mercedes 1:42.242 1:42.395 N/A 14
16 24 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1:42.642 N/A N/A 15
17 27 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Haas-Ferrari 1:42.755 N/A N/A PL3
18 20 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1:43.417 N/A N/A 16
19 10 France Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 1:44.853 N/A N/A 17
107% time: 1:48.357
— 21 Netherlands Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT 1:55.282 N/A N/A 184
Source:[13][14]

Notes

  • ^1 – Lance Stroll and Oscar Piastri set identical lap times in Q3. Stroll was classified ahead as he set his time earlier.[13][15]
  • ^2 – Esteban Ocon qualified 12th, but he was required to start the race from the pit lane as the setup of the suspension was changed while the car was under parc fermé.[16]
  • ^3 – Nico Hülkenberg qualified 17th, but he was required to start the race from the pit lane as the setup of the suspension was changed while the car was under parc fermé.[17]
  • ^4 – Nyck de Vries failed to set a time within the 107% requirement. He was permitted to race at the stewards' discretion.[14]

Sprint shootout

The sprint shootout was held on 29 April 2023 at 12:30 local time (UTC+4) and determined the starting order for the Sprint race.[2]

Sprint shootout report

The first segment saw Zhou, Bottas, Tsunoda, Gasly and de Vries knocked out. About one minute before the session was to finish, Logan Sargeant, who was seventh, hit the wall with the rear of his car at turn 15, damaging the suspension and rear wing. Due to damage to his car, Sargeant could not continue participating in the second part of the session, which prevented him from setting a time in the second segment and left him in the 15th position in the session. Sargeant was later withdrawn from the sprint due to car damage.[18] The session was red-flagged twenty-five seconds to go and ended prematurely. Following the first segment, Gasly's car was reported to suffer from an exhaust leak.

The second segment saw Piastri, Hülkenberg, Ocon, Magnussen and Sargeant knocked out. Two yellow flags were waved during the session; Hülkenberg locked up at turn 7 and nearly touched the wall, and Sainz also locked up at turn 15. Towards the end of the session, Alonso gave his teammate Stroll a tow down the pit straight, greatly assisting his lap time. Due to a lack of new soft tyres, Norris could not participate in the third session.

Leclerc managed to secure pole position for the sprint ahead of Pérez and Verstappen, despite locking up and crashing out in turn 5 on his last lap.[19]

Sprint shootout classification

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Qualifying times Sprint
grid
SQ1 SQ2 SQ3
1 16 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:42.820 1:42.500 1:41.697 1
2 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 1:43.858 1:42.925 1:41.844 2
3 1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 1:43.288 1:42.417 1:41.987 3
4 63 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 1:43.763 1:43.112 1:42.252 4
5 55 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1:43.622 1:42.909 1:42.287 5
6 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:43.561 1:43.061 1:42.502 6
7 23 Thailand Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:43.987 1:43.376 1:42.846 7
8 14 Spain Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 1:43.789 1:42.976 1:43.010 8
9 18 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 1:43.879 1:43.375 1:43.064 9
10 4 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:43.938 1:43.395 No time1 10
11 81 Australia Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:44.179 1:43.427 N/A 11
12 27 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Haas-Ferrari 1:44.843 1:43.806 N/A 12
13 31 France Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 1:44.433 1:44.088 N/A PL2
14 20 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1:44.101 1:44.332 N/A 13
15 2 United States Logan Sargeant Williams-Mercedes 1:44.042 No time N/A —3
16 24 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1:45.177 N/A N/A 14
17 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1:45.352 N/A N/A 15
18 22 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT 1:45.436 N/A N/A 16
19 10 France Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 1:46.951 N/A N/A 17
20 21 Netherlands Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT 1:48.180 N/A N/A 18
107% time: 1:48.617
Source:[20][21]

Notes

  • ^1 – Lando Norris could not set a time during SQ3 as he did not have a new set of soft tyres which were mandatory for the segment.[22]
  • ^2 – Esteban Ocon qualified 13th, but he was required to start the sprint from the pit lane as the setup of the suspension was changed while the car was under parc fermé.[16]
  • ^3 – Logan Sargeant qualified 15th, but he did not take part in the sprint following a request made by the team to withdraw the car due to a crash. The drivers who qualified behind him gained one grid position each.[23]

Sprint

The sprint was held on 29 April 2023 at 17:30 local time (UTC+4).[2]

Sprint report

Sprint polesitter Charles Leclerc got a good start off the line to take the lead of the race. Max Verstappen and George Russell made contact going into turn 2, Russell inflicting damage to Verstappen's car and passing him for third place. Behind them, Fernando Alonso passed Alexander Albon for seventh place. As he went into turn 13, Yuki Tsunoda hit the wall, stripping the rear-left tyre off his AlphaTauri; the stricken tyre rolled down the track and debris was strewn around that corner, causing a virtual safety car to be called out. Tsunoda limped back into the pits to replace the tyre, though his damaged car was released in an unsafe condition with the rear wheels geometry being visibly off; he would retire the following lap. The virtual safety car period transitioned to a full safety car period to clear the debris left by Tsunoda's car. During this period, Esteban Ocon went into the pits to switch to a set of soft tyres.

On lap five, the safety car period ended; as the cars went into turn 1, Verstappen passed Russell for third, and Lewis Hamilton would drop two places behind Carlos Sainz Jr. and Alonso. The DRS was enabled on lap seven, giving Sergio Pérez the opportunity to pass Leclerc on the main straight; he kept the lead until the end of the race. Lando Norris pitted after lap 10, switching to the medium compound; soon afterward Ocon switched to new softs. Pérez pulled away from second-placed Leclerc, who was now being pressured by Verstappen in third; by lap 17, Pérez had a 4.7 second gap ahead of Leclerc. Verstappen finished in third; Russell went home in fourth.[24]

Sprint classification

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 17 33:17.667 2 8
2 16 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 17 +4.463 1 7
3 1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 17 +5.065 3 6
4 63 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 17 +8.532 4 5
5 55 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 17 +10.388 5 4
6 14 Spain Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 17 +11.613 8 3
7 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 17 +16.503 6 2
8 18 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 17 +18.417 9 1
9 23 Thailand Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 17 +21.757 7
10 81 Australia Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 17 +22.851 11
11 20 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 17 +27.990 13
12 24 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 17 +34.602 14
13 10 France Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 17 +36.918 17
14 21 Netherlands Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT 17 +41.626 18
15 27 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Haas-Ferrari 17 +48.587 12
16 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 17 +49.917 15
17 4 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 17 +51.104 10
18 31 France Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 17 +1:00.621 PL
Ret 22 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT 2 Collision damage 16
WD 2 United States Logan Sargeant Williams-Mercedes 0 Withdrew —1
Fastest lap: Mexico Sergio Pérez (Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT) – 1:43.616 (lap 11)
Source:[21][25]

Notes

  • ^1 – Logan Sargeant did not take part in the sprint following a request made by the team to withdraw the car due to a crash in the sprint shootout. The drivers who qualified behind him gained one grid position each.[23]

Race

The race was held on 30 April 2023 at 15:00 local time (UTC+4).[2]

Race report

Polesitter Charles Leclerc led the race until lap four; Alexander Albon and Oscar Piastri made contact coming into turn 2, inflicting damage to the Williams' wing. The contact was investigated and no further action was taken. The DRS was enabled on lap three, with Max Verstappen utilising it to pass Leclerc into the first corner on the following lap. Sergio Pérez would repeat the same move on lap six to take second place. Pierre Gasly entered the pit lane on lap six to switch to the hard compound.

As lap ten concluded, Verstappen went into the pit lane to switch tyres, exiting in third position, but he would lose the effective lead of the race, as Nyck de Vries' retirement would cause a yellow flag and subsequent safety car; he had clipped the inside wall at turn 5 and come to a stop at turn 6. During the safety car period, Pérez changed onto a fresh hard compound and subsequently took the lead of the race, with Leclerc also switching to the hards. George Russell also benefited from the safety car, jumping Lance Stroll and taking sixth place. Russell's entry into the pit lane was investigated by race control, with no further action required. Zhou Guanyu retired on lap 39 following mechanical problems.

Pérez, Verstappen and Leclerc would be the top three drivers for the rest of the race as Pérez took his second Azerbaijan Grand Prix victory. This was Leclerc and Ferrari's first podium finish of the season.[26] Leading Lando Norris in ninth place by almost 30 seconds, George Russell took advantage of the opportunity to make a late pit stop from eighth for a fresh set of tyres, enabling him to claim a point for fastest lap.

Pit lane safety issues

During the final lap of the race, an incident occurred where FIA-appointed personnel allowed photographers to cross into the fast lane of the pits to prepare to photograph the parc fermé and podium celebrations, even though the race was still active. Alpine driver Esteban Ocon was forced to avoid several photographers whilst coming in for his pit stop. As a result, the race stewards launched an investigation into the matter and, subsequently, recommended that changes be made to end of race parc fermé procedures to prevent a repeat of the occurrence.[27][28]

Race classification

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 51 1:32:42.436 3 25
2 1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 51 +2.137 2 18
3 16 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 51 +21.217 1 15
4 14 Spain Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 51 +22.024 6 12
5 55 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 51 +45.491 4 10
6 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 51 +46.145 5 8
7 18 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes 51 +51.617 9 6
8 63 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 51 +1:14.240 11 51
9 4 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 51 +1:20.376 7 2
10 22 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT 51 +1:23.862 8 1
11 81 Australia Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 51 +1:26.501 10
12 23 Thailand Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 51 +1:28.623 12
13 20 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 51 +1:29.729 16
14 10 France Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 51 +1:31.332 17
15 31 France Esteban Ocon Alpine-Renault 51 +1:37.794 PL
16 2 United States Logan Sargeant Williams-Mercedes 51 +1:40.943 14
17 27 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Haas-Ferrari 50 +1 lap PL
18 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 50 +1 lap 13
Ret 24 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 36 Overheating 15
Ret 21 Netherlands Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT 9 Accident 18
Fastest lap: United Kingdom George Russell (Mercedes) – 1:43.370 (lap 51)
Source:[14][29][30]

Notes

  • ^1 – Includes one point for fastest lap.[30]

Championship standings after the race

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ At the time of the event Formula One planned to hold twenty-three Grands Prix.[1]
  2. ↑ Official lap records are only set in races.

References

  1. ↑ "Formula 1 update on the 2023 calendar". Formula1.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2023 – F1 Race". Formula1.com. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  3. ↑ "Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2023 – F1 Race – Circuit Information". Formula1.com. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  4. ↑ "Formula 1 announces venues for six F1 Sprint events across 2023 season". formula1.com. 7 December 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  5. ↑ "Explained: Everything you need to know about the 2023 F1 Sprint format". Formula1.com. 25 April 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  6. ↑ "Australia 2023 – Championship". Stats F1. 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  7. ↑ "2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Entry List" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  8. ↑ "2023 Tyre Compound Choices – Azerbaijan, USA and Italy". pirelli.com. 5 April 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  9. ↑ "FIA shortens Baku DRS zone for F1 Azerbaijan GP". Motorsport.com. 27 April 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  10. ↑ Gale, Ewan (28 April 2023). "Dramatic Gasly fire triggers critical red flag". RacingNews365.com.
  11. ↑ Cleeren, Filip (29 April 2023). "Alonso rues Aston Martin DRS issue in Baku F1 qualifying". Autosport.com.
  12. ↑ Boxall-Legge, Jake (28 April 2023). "F1 Azerbaijan GP: Leclerc beats Red Bulls for grand prix pole". Autosport.
  13. 1 2 "Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2023 – Qualifying". Formula 1. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  14. 1 2 3 "Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2023 – Starting Grid". Formula 1. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  15. ↑ Rickert, Andrew (29 April 2023). "Oscar Piastri tenth in Baku qualifying after upgraded McLaren "just faster"". RACEWEEK. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  16. 1 2 "Ocon to start Azerbaijan Sprint and Grand Prix from pit lane after Alpine make parc ferme changes | Formula 1®". formula1.com. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  17. ↑ "Hulkenberg joins Ocon in pit lane start for Azerbaijan Grand Prix | Formula 1®". formula1.com. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  18. ↑ Noble, Jonathan (29 April 2023). "Williams withdraws Sargeant from F1 sprint race after crash". Autosport.com.
  19. ↑ Boxall-Legge, Jake (29 April 2023). "F1 Azerbaijan GP: Leclerc doubles up for sprint race pole despite crash". Autosport.com.
  20. ↑ "Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2023 – Sprint Shootout". Formula 1. 29 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  21. 1 2 "Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2023 – Sprint Grid". Formula 1. 29 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  22. ↑ "Explained: Why Lando Norris, Yuki Tsunoda cannot take part in Sprint Shootout Q3". PlanetF1.com. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  23. 1 2 "Williams' Logan Sargeant withdrawn from Azerbaijan Sprint after Shootout qualifying crash". Formula1.com. 19 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  24. ↑ Boxall-Legge, Jake (29 April 2023). "F1 Azerbaijan GP: Perez passes Leclerc to win F1 sprint". Motorsport.com.
  25. ↑ "Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2023 – Sprint". Formula 1. 29 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  26. ↑ Boxall-Legge, Jake (30 April 2023). "F1 Azerbaijan GP: Perez leads dominant Red Bull 1-2 from Leclerc". Autosport.com.
  27. ↑ Suttill, Josh (30 April 2023). "Baku stewards investigating FIA staff for Ocon pitlane near-miss". The Race.
  28. ↑ Mitchell-Malm, Scott (30 April 2023). "FIA criticised by own stewards for 'very dangerous' Baku error". the-race.com. The Race Media. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  29. ↑ "Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2023 – Race Result". Formula 1. 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  30. 1 2 "Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix 2023 – Fastest Laps". Formula 1. 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  31. 1 2 "Azerbaijan 2023 – Championship". Stats F1. 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
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