FORMULA 1 QUALIFYING SEES VERSTAPPEN ON POLE, WILLAMS IN THE FRONT ROW & REDFLAGS
Max Verstappen snatched pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, denying Carlos Sainz what would have been a surprise P1 start, as Championship leader Oscar Piastri crashed out in a chaotic Qualifying session.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc triggered the penultimate stoppage when he clipped the wall at Turn 15 just as light rain began to fall, halting the laps of several rivals including Verstappen and Lando Norris who were on quick runs. Moments later, Piastri hit the barriers at Turn 3 with under four minutes left, ending his session and forcing yet another red flag.
Once the track went green again, grip was minimal and conditions tricky, but Verstappen mastered them to produce a 1m41.117s, edging Sainz by almost half a second. Liam Lawson impressed to secure third, followed by Mercedes pair Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, with Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull taking sixth.
Norris couldn’t recover from a messy final lap and wound up seventh, just ahead of Isack Hadjar, with Piastri and Leclerc rounding out the top 10.
Lewis Hamilton, despite strong practice pace, faltered in Q2 and could do no better than 12th, behind Fernando Alonso. Gabriel Bortoleto’s Kick Sauber finished 13th ahead of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, while Haas rookie Ollie Bearman caused a red flag with a crash at Turn 2 and ended up 15th without a time.
Franco Colapinto was 16th after hitting the wall at Turn 4 late in Q1, while Nico Hülkenberg also crashed at the same corner earlier and was left 17th. Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, and Alex Albon completed the order, the Williams driver having caused the first red flag with an incident at Turn 1.
In Q1, with gusty winds and light rain creating unpredictable conditions, drivers rushed to get laps in whenever the track was clear. Early on, Leclerc led with a 1m41.982s from Verstappen and Norris, but Albon’s crash quickly disrupted proceedings.
Hülkenberg’s Turn 4 accident soon after caused another stoppage, with Hamilton temporarily moving to the top before Antonelli, Russell, Leclerc, and Norris all swapped the lead in quick succession once running resumed.
On the edge of elimination, rookie Antonelli delivered under pressure to escape Q1 and later starred again in Q2, climbing to sixth after his earlier lap was deleted for track limits. Meanwhile, Hadjar jumped into the top five, and both Aston Martins scraped through before a double Alpine disaster – Gasly running off and Colapinto crashing triggered a third red flag.
The second segment proved no less dramatic. Bearman crashed out at Turn 2, Alonso missed out on Q3, and Hamilton was eliminated after a scrappy final effort left him only 10th. Bortoleto slid out of Turn 16 and Stroll struggled in the run-off at Turn 1, while Verstappen led the way with a 1m41.255s.
Knocked out in Q2: Alonso, Hamilton, Bortoleto, Stroll, Bearman.
The decisive Q3 session became a stop-start affair. Sainz initially set the pace ahead of Lawson and Hadjar before Leclerc’s crash caused red flag number five. Verstappen and Norris were flying on their restarts but Piastri’s crash brought out a sixth stoppage, dragging the session close to the two-hour mark.
When the track reopened again, Norris brushed the wall at Turn 15 and couldn’t improve, leaving him only seventh. Lawson consolidated third place, while Verstappen delivered the lap of the day to displace Sainz and secure pole. Antonelli led the midfield with fifth ahead of Russell and Tsunoda, while Hadjar finished behind Norris, with Piastri and Leclerc completing the top 10.
Lando Norris could only manage seventh after brushing the wall and backing off during his final run. Ferrari’s struggles continued as Leclerc’s crash capped off a disappointing day, and Lewis Hamilton failed to make it into Q3, qualifying down in 12th. Albon, meanwhile, ended up 20th after crashing in Q1 and not setting a competitive lap. Overall, the session lived up to Baku’s reputation for unpredictability, setting the stage for an exciting and possibly chaotic race with a shuffled grid and several front-runners out of position.
The race will go green tomorrow at 13:00 BST.
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