Max Verstappen Starts The Grand Prix of Azerbaijan on Sunday from pole position. The Dutchman Kept A Cool Head in Baku on a Wet Track and Beat the Surprisingly Fast Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had a bad day.
The Qualification in Baku was very chaotic with multiple crashes. The Red Flag was Waved Six Times, which is a new record for Formula 1 in a qualifying session.
Verstappen Drove A 1.41.117 on the last minute and was Therefore Faster Than Sainz in the Williams and Lawson of Racing Bulls. In a twice interrupted third part of the Qualification, Norris Did Not Get Further than the seventh time. He also had to let Kimi Antonelli, George Russell and Yuki Tsunoda Pass Him by A Round in which he lightly hit the wall. This made a bad session complete for McLaren.
World Cup Leader Piastri had The Unfortunate Honor of Helping Formula 1 to the New Red Flag Record. With this, this Qualification Went Beyond the Five Red Flags in that of Brazil in 2024 and in Emilia-Romagna in 2022. The Australian Crashed His McLaren Into The Tire 3 and Will Start Ninth on Sunday.
Leclerc not on pole in Baku for the First Time Since 2019
McLaren was not the only team Where Things Went Wrong. Ferrari Went Into the Qualification with Good Hope, Knowing That Leclerc had Left from pole in the last four editions of this race. That is not going to happen on Sunday. At the beginning of Q3, the Monegasque Flew Into the Tire Stacks on An Increasingly Wet Track. He caused the fifth red flag of the session.
After these incidents in Q3, Light Rain also Started to Play An Increasing Role. After the First Red Flag, Sainz Even had the fastest time in hand, but unfortunately for the spaniard the rain did not continuously. After Piastri’s Car was Finally Removed, Everyone Could Still Set A Lap.
In it, Verstappen was Almost Half A Second Faster Than Anyone Else On A Damp Track. He took his second pole in a row after the Italian Grand Prix two week ago.
Already Three Red Flags in First Part of Qualification
For Lewis Hamilton, The Qualification Resulted in A Deception. The seven-time champion did not get through the second part of the qualification and will start Twelfth on Sunday. On Friday, the ferrari driver spoke of his best Friday of the year, with the fastest time in the second free practice.
The Qualification in Baku also started Very Chaotic, with no FEWER THAN THREE RED FLAGS in Q1. That was for crashes of Alexander Albon, who hit the inner Wall in Turn 1, Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto. The Last Two Crashed Into The Tire Stacks in Turn Four.
Colapinto Did That While Yellow Was Already Hanging In That Corner For His Teammate Pierre Gasly, Who had shot straight ahead. Both Alpines Stranded in the Same Corner, to the Frustration of Team Boss Flavio Briatore. At the beginning of Q2, Oliver Bearman then hit the Wall, Causing the Fourth Red Flag.
The Grand Prix of Azerbaijan Starts on Sunday at 13:00 (Dutch Time)