Max Verstappen will begin the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from pole position alongside Carlos Sainz after a two-hour qualifying session for the marathon, featuring a record six red flags and a crash from championship leader Oscar Piastri.
Piastri took too much speed to turn 3, passing the top and staying on the wall, and the front end of his car disappeared into Tekpro’s barrier.
The title leader and the 2024 Baku winner have not started a lower race than the fourth of the season, but will begin the Sunday Grand Prix, where Championship rival Landolis will be second in 7th place. He came in 10th only when four consecutive Paul’s Charles Leclerc wins in Azerbaijan crashed and broke in early light rains in the third quarter when he crashed and broke.
The Ferrari driver was too fast for a tricky downhill left-hander, trapping the left front foot tire and spearing helplessly against the barrier. It exacerbated Paul’s hopeful Ferrari’s disastrous session. This was also due to Lewis Hamilton being knocked out in the second quarter due to his tire strategy.
Both Q3 crashes triggered the fifth in the session and a record-breaking sixth red flag.
When the session finally resumed from dual suspension, there was plenty of time for just one flight lap. Light Rain complicated the scenario for someone who doesn’t have time, but it was music to Sainz’s ears along with the driver after the driver didn’t beat him.
Norris appears most likely to pinch the top spot from the Spaniards, and Britton was presented with an open goal of getting a potentially significant score against his crashed teammate. However, the Championship Challenger was too fast at turn 15 and hit the right tire against the barrier. He kept completing his raps, but getting a top spot wasn’t enough.
Instead, he fell to Verstappen to deny Sainz on the finest laps in tricky, high-pressure conditions, and Dutchman lowered his benchmark to 1M41.117 and took the pole at 0.478 seconds.
“It was extremely difficult to hold my knees together,” he said. “It was a very difficult session, especially since Q3 was also a bit raining, and then we have to send it on the final lap.
“From FP1 we haven’t been that bad and have been improving with a small amount, so I’m very pleased with how the weekend went away.
“I’m happy because it seems we’ve done a better job since Monza and I hope we can continue like that.”
Other drivers couldn’t even get Sainz at 0.1 seconds. The executions early in the third quarter were then crucial for his best qualifying results since last year’s Qatar Grand Prix and the first Williams start in the front row, his first since the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix.
“To be honest, we nailed every qualifier today, with the right tires at the right time and putting together a very strong lap,” he said. “Obviously, the moment Topker put together the lap, we were 0.4, 0.5 seconds behind as usual, but only one of them was the biggest.
“I’ve put together a good lap this year in qualifying, and once again proved the speed of this car. This team is streaming in qualifying when it matters.”
Lawson starts a great third after the best qualifying results of his career after improving on the final lap.
“To be honest, I don’t even remember what happened. It was very busy,” he said. “The car was good all weekend. When it had to be QUALI, it was good.
“We have a great starting point, but we know who’s fighting around us, and that’s what we’re paying attention to.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli has qualified for his second teammate of the season, George Russell, to fourth and fifth place by a Mercedes driver, but the Italians have to see the steward after a suspected yellow flag infringement session from the first quarter.
Tsunoda has finished sixth since the Australian Grand Prix, where he was riding in a Racing Bulls car before Norris and Hajar. Piastri and Leclerc, who have crashed, will be in the 9th to 10th place.
Fernando Alonso was 11th after missing the Q3 anchorage, which is likely to drop 0.069 seconds.
Hamilton was a shocking elimination on the 12th after trying to complete the majority of the session with a single set of soft tires. It slowed him down, his final flying lap put him in 10th place, and his teammate Leclerc, ironically, dumped him into his starting position from safety.
Gabriel Boltreto came in 13th ahead of Lance Stroll.
Oliver Baerman qualified without 15th in the second quarter after leaving turn 2 on the first flying lap and breaching the right dosage halt against the barrier that caused the afternoon’s fourth red flag.
Franco Colapinto will be 16th after crashing from the first quarter on the final flying lap in an incident involving teammate Pierre Gasly.
Guthrie was blown into the turn-off zone by an incorrect gust of wind in turn 4, ruining his final knee and causing a white flag. Korapinto was just behind him and lost control of his alpine as he sailed through the corner.
His car slammed heavily against the outside barrier, temporarily in the air, resting in the mountains, causing a red flag. Argentina left the uninjured wreckage but was eliminated from qualifying.
Nico Halkenberg also wrapped himself in the turn 4 barrier and slipped directly into the wall early in Q1, causing the red flag. The German was able to return to the pit lane without a front wing to rejoin the session, but the damage to his floor was unable to improve, leaving him on the 17th.
Esteban Ocon finished 18th ahead of Guthrie and Alex Albon. He was the first driver to crash since the first quarter when clipping the apex barrier on the first turn, and immediately broke the suspension, got on track and stopped, causing the first red flag of the afternoon.
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