Charles Leclerc continued his fine form to secure another F1 Azerbaijan GP pole, with Carlos Sainz in third behind Oscar Piastri.
Q1:
The first part in F1 Azerbaijan GP qualifying saw sunny conditions but track improving lap after lap which saw Williams’ Alexander Albon in second behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (1m42.775s), with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in third.
His teammate Lando Norris didn’t make it out of Q1 though. He along with Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen kept it late which meant the last lap was crucial. While the Dutchman and the Australian managed to improve, the Brit couldn’t.
He ran wide over the kerb in the final sequence and aborted the lap to end up 17th. He was left with a 1m43.609s lap behind Visa Cash App RB’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m43.547s), who was also knocked out along with the pair of Kick Sauber cars.
It was Valtteri Bottas (1m43.618s) in 18th ahead of teammate Zhou Guanyu (1m44.246s), with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m44.504s) in 20th after the Frenchman had a puncture due to wall brush. The likes of Verstappen and Williams’ Franco Colapinto also had a brush, while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz had an off moment early on.
Q2:
The second part in F1 Azerbaijan GP qualifying saw Verstappen lead the way with a 1m42.042s lap which was 0.014s quicker than Leclerc, who complained about not being able to get a tow from teammate Sainz, as Sergio Perez was third.
The knockout zone saw Haas’ Oliver Bearman miss out by just in 11th after his 1m42.968s lap where he complained about a lock-up. He managed to out-qualify Nico Hulkenberg (1m43.191s), though, who was only 14th after not getting a quick lap in.
Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda (1m43.035s) was 12th behind Bearman, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly (1m43.179s) in 13th ahead of Hulkenberg and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (1m43.404s).
Q3:
The final part in F1 Azerbaijan GP qualifying saw Ferrari take 1-2 to start the session with Leclerc (1m41.610s) ahead of teammate Sainz (1m41.815s), as Piastri (1m41.827s) slotted in third ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and and Perez.
He was ahead of his teammate Verstappen, who had a sideway moment on the kerb at Turn 16. The second run saw a bizarre start for Williams’ Alexander Albon where he had his airbox attached still to the car after leaving the pits for the final outing.
He stopped at the end of the pitlane and removed the airbox on his own, which was taken away by the marshal. There was no yellow flag, but they were put under investigation. On track, Leclerc upped his pace further to set a 1m41.365s lap.
In doing so, he took F1 Azerbaijan GP pole again ahead of Piastri (1m41.686s ), who clipped the wall at Turn 15. Sainz made it 1-3 for Ferrari in third after a 1m41.805s lap, as Perez (1m41.813s) in fourth for the first out-qualified teammate for the first time in 2024.
He was sixth after his 1m42.023s lap behind Russell (1m41.874s), as Lewis Hamilton (1m42.289s) was seventh ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso (1m42.369s) and Williams pair of Franco Colapinto (1m42.530s) and Albon (1m42.859s) in the Top 10.
UPDATE: Williams has been fined €5,000 for unsafe release of Albon. The FIA stewards looked into the matter of the Thai racer throwing the piece off board as well which they termed not to be normal. However, in this case it prevented from yellow flag.
Considering that no one was affected by the actions of Albon, the stewards decided not to impose a penalty to the Thai racer and only fined the team for unsafe release. Here: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Azerbaijan%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Infringement%20-%20Car%2023%20-%20Unsafe%20condition.pdf
The stewards has let off Russell with a reprimand after failing to slow down under yellow flag. Here: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Azerbaijan%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Infringement%20-%20Car%2063%20-%20Failing%20to%20slow%20for%20yellow%20flags.pdf
Also, Gasly has been disqualified: https://formularapida.net/en/fia-disqualifies-gasly-from-f1-azerbaijan-gp-for-fuel-mass-flow/
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