Max Verstappen survived six red flags to F1 pole in Azerbaijan GP in tricky conditions, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson.
Q1:
The first part in F1 Azerbaijan GP qualifying at Baku saw McLaren and Red Bull start on the medium compound for their first run under cloudy conditions with spots of rain. The first red flag was caused by Williams’ Alexander Albon with over 11 minutes remaining on the clock.
He was too close to the tyre barrier at Turn 1 which broke his front-left suspension immediately. Replays also showed Haas’ Esteban Ocon complaining of dragging a branch under his car amid strong winds. There was yellow flag infringement noted for Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli as well.
The red flag stoppage saw several drivers switch to medium compound. Not long did drivers set their lap, there was another red flag for Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg when he went straight towards the Turn 4 tyre barrier. He managed to get back into the pits on his own.
Under the red flag, Antonelli’s lost his fast lap after going off track at Turn 16. Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, meanwhile, was pulled up for yellow flag infringement. The re-start saw plenty of improvements, as McLaren’s Lando Norris topped Q1 with a 1m41.322s lap.
He led Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. The session ended under red flag after double whammy for Alpine pair. Pierre Gasly went off at Turn 4 in the run-off, but teammate Franco Colapinto hit the barrier at the same corner while trying to slow down.
He was 16th after his initial 1m42.779s lap to be knocked out in Q1 along with Hulkenberg (1m42.916s), Ocon (1m43.004s), Gasly (1m43.139s) and Albon (1m43.778s). Replays showed several drivers brushing the tyre barrier at various corners, but escaping any major damage.
Q2:
The second part in F1 Azerbaijan GP qualifying was delayed due to barrier repair. The grid was split on compounds again, with some opting for medium and some on the soft. Visa Cash App RB’s Isack Hadjar straightaway had a moment on the outlap at Turn 4, where he had to reverse.
As the drivers started their fast lap, the session was red-flagged after Haas’ Oliver Bearman tapped the wall at Turn 2 exit. It was minor tap but enough to damage his rear-right. The re-start saw brief yellow for Leclerc, who had a moment at Turn 1 and had to take the run-off.
He was cleared for yellow flag infringement. But he had another Turn 3 moment and was forced to abort without a lap in. He had no laps against his name, while teammate Lewis Hamilton wasn’t in a good position. It hurt the Brit eventually after he was knocked out due to average laps.
A late push from Verstappen saw him set the pace with a 1m41.255s lap ahead of Norris and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in the Top 3. The Dutchman’s lap meant the Top 10 was covered by 0.533s margin, with the Top 12 finishing inside a second of the pace-setter in a close session.
Red Bull’s Yuki’s Tsunoda late push dropped Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso (1m41.857s) to 11th to lead the Q2 knockout list. Hamilton (1m41.857s) was 12th from Bortoleto (1m42.277s) and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (1m43.061s), as Bearman did not have a timed lap in.
Q3:
The final part in F1 Azerbaijan GP qualifying saw early slip for Mercedes’ George Russell at Turn 4. It disallowed Norris to push due to yellow flag, but Williams’ Carlos Sainz didn’t have any issues to lead the pack with a 1m41.595s lap ahead of the pair of Visa Cash App RB drivers.
Liam Lawson was second from teammate Hadjar. They were the only drivers with a timed lap when Leclerc lost grip and crashed at Turn 15 to release the red flag. The field had Sainz on the medium tyres along with the rest of the pack, with the Visa Cash App RB drivers opting for the soft.
But post red flag, some changed compounds to soft but Verstappen stayed on the medium along with Mercedes drivers. No one could set any lap as a record breaking sixth red flag was waved for Piastri after he went straight into the barrier at Turn 3 to end his chances.
The re-start another change of tyres as Sainz and Antonelli stuck with medium compound, but the rest went for the soft option. Norris was first up but he fell short as both Sainz (1m41.595s) and Lawson (1m41.707s) improved still. But they were trumped by Verstappen (1m41.117s) in the end.
He went 0.478s quicker to take F1 pole in Azerbaijan GP ahead of Sainz and Lawson in the Top 3. Antonelli (1m41.717s) led the Mercedes charge in fourth from Russell (1m42.070s), as Tsunoda (1m42.143s) improved to sixth, with Norris (1m42.239s) seventh and Hadjar (1m42.372s) eighth.
Other news –
Lando Norris bounced back to lead F1 Azerbaijan GP FP3: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/fp3-norris-leads-verstappen-and-piastri-as-drivers-battle-the-elements.4kCcky6ccRNKDkKtrnZdTx
F1 signed contract extension to keep Azerbaijan GP until 2030: https://corp.formula1.com/formula-1-to-continue-racing-in-azerbaijan-until-2030/
