Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc clinched pole position at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for the fourth consecutive year on Saturday, while McLaren’s title hopeful Lando Norris faced a qualifying disaster and was set to start in 16th place.
Joining Leclerc on the front row was McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez occupying the second row. Red Bull’s championship leader Max Verstappen, who is 62 points ahead of Norris with eight races remaining, managed only the sixth fastest time, with Mercedes’ George Russell qualifying in fifth.
This marked Leclerc’s 26th career pole and his third of the season, though he has yet to convert a top qualifying position into a win in Baku, where champions Red Bull have dominated for the past three years.
“It’s one of my favourite tracks of the season, I really like it,” remarked the Monegasque driver, who won the previous race in Italy but crashed during Friday practice in Baku. “On that last lap, I pushed a bit more and the lap time came together beautifully. The car felt fantastic, everything was perfect, and it’s incredible to be on pole.”
“Hopefully, we can perform as a team tomorrow to secure a win. Historically, we’ve been quite strong in qualifying but faced challenges during the race. This season, our race car is more competitive, so I am optimistic about our chances tomorrow.”
Leclerc clocked a time of one minute and 41.365 seconds, which was 0.321 seconds faster than Piastri’s best lap. The Australian initially held third place after the first flying laps, with Ferrari securing the top two positions, but he managed to find additional speed in his final attempt.
“I got very close to the walls on my last lap; I was just trying to extract the maximum performance,” said Piastri, who had agreed last week to follow team orders to support Norris but now finds himself unlikely to need such instructions. “This track favours those who fully commit, and on my final lap in Q3, I knew I had less to lose, so I pushed the car to its limits.”
Unlucky Norris
Norris could do nothing but watch from the sidelines after being eliminated in the first phase. A yellow flag waved briefly towards the end of the session, ruining his last attempt to climb out of the bottom five.
“Everyone completed their second laps, but I didn’t,” he informed Sky Sports television. “It was just bad luck. I had to ease off. “There’s a long race ahead, we have some good tyres in reserve, and I’m still optimistic about achieving a good result. I think the car is fast. It’s a bit frustrating, but there’s nothing I can do.” The Briton advanced from 17th after Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who had qualified 13th, was disqualified for a fuel flow irregularity but received permission to start the race. McLaren boss Andrea Stella mentioned that his team was in discussions with the governing FIA about why the yellow flag was triggered by Esteban Ocon’s Alpine, which had not come to a halt. “There was a situation that ideally, and according to the regulations, shouldn’t have occurred. We paid the price but we won’t give up,” he remarked.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton qualified seventh, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in eighth and Williams’ Argentine rookie Franco Colapinto and Alex Albon in ninth and tenth respectively. Albon’s chances of advancing were ruined when he left the pits with a yellow cooling fan stuck in the car’s airbox.
He halted, took the cumbersome item from behind his head, and tossed it to the edge of the track, but missed the opportunity for a final lap. “I’m not blaming the team. I believe these things can occur occasionally, and we must ensure it doesn’t repeat,” stated the Thai.
Williams received a fine of 5,000 euros.
