Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc made it four consecutive pole positions at the Baku City Circuit after defeating Oscar Piastri in Saturday’s qualifying session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, while Lando Norris’ McLaren suffered a Q1 elimination.
Leclerc set a blazing lap of 1m 41.365s to finish three tenths ahead of Piastri in the final Q3 phase, adding to his 2021, 2022, and 2023 pole positions at the track, with teammate Carlos Sainz rounding out the top three.
Red Bull showed flashes of speed throughout qualifying, but eventually had to settle for fourth and sixth, with two-time Azerbaijan winner Sergio Perez getting the best of Max Verstappen, while George Russell put
His Mercedes finished fifth. Lewis Hamilton appeared to struggle to get his tyres up to temperature on his way to seventh position, while Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin finished eighth, and Williams drivers Franco Colapinto and Alex Albon completed the Q3 order.
Albon’s attempts were hampered on an otherwise brilliant day for Williams, particularly the high-flying rookie Colapinto, when the Thai-British driver was sent out for his final lap with an airbox fan still attached. Albon came to a halt on the track, released the fan, and threw it to the waiting marshals; however, the time he wasted in doing so prevented him from taking another lap, with stewards due to investigate the matter after the session.
Ollie Bearman simply lost out on a slot.
In the pole position shootout, he finished a tenth behind Albon in Q2, triggering an angry radio message from the Briton upon his return to the pits, despite outqualifying experienced Haas teammate Nico Hulkenberg. Yuki Tsunoda of RB and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly had to settle for P12 and P13, respectively, after the former was fined for speeding in the pit lane, while Hulkenberg and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll were the slowest runners in the second qualifying section.
It was a dismal session for title contender Norris, who will start in 17th position – just behind RB driver and former teammate Daniel Ricciardo – after his Q1 elimination, having driven crazily over the kerbs and encountered a slow-moving Esteban Ocon in
The final sector.
Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu finished 18th and 19th, with the latter facing a back-of-the-grid start in any event, while the aforementioned Ocon finished 20th after his Alpine stalled once more in the dying minutes of the initial session. In Q1, Leclerc emerged as the fastest, while Norris dropped out.
After a close final practice session on a slippery Baku City Circuit, there was plenty of excitement in the paddock as qualifying approached, with many insiders believing Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, and Red Bull could all claim pole position.
One alteration to the grid announced between sessions included Zhou, since he exceeded the season allowance of multiple power unit components, while Leclerc breathed.
a sigh of relief when his supposed yellow flag violation in FP3 simply resulted in a reprimand. With most drivers opting for soft tires from the start in Q1 – a pattern broken by Mercedes burning a pair of mediums – Perez set the early pace with a 1m 43.436s, barely ahead of Sainz, Leclerc, Verstappen, Piastri, and Norris.
Williams rookie Colapinto then raised eyebrows by splitting the Ferrari drivers, clocking a lap just a tenth slower than pacesetter Perez, while at the other end of the timesheets, both Kick Saubers, both Alpines, and Ricciardo’s RB were struggling.
As drivers pushed harder and harder on an ever-improving track, replays showed Colapinto scraping the wall and Bearman coming dangerously close.
to doing the same when he regained confidence following his FP3 shunt and Sainz taking an escape road. Leclerc then made a statement by clocking a 1m 42.775s on his next lap, 0.364s faster than nearest opponent Russell, with Perez holding third from Hamilton and Sainz, and Stroll being shunted into the drop zone due to Gasly’s improvement.
After tyre changes in the pits (the preliminary top three were the only drivers to keep put), a wild final sequence concluded with Leclerc still in first place, followed by Albon, Piastri, Gasly, Hamilton, and Verstappen, with Hulkenberg, Colapinto, Russell, and Perez rounding out the top ten.
But there would be great drama behind it, with championship contender Norris failing to make it out.
of Q1 amid a moment in the final sector, yellow flags for a slowing Ocon and an out-of-context radio apology from his race engineer, meaning he will start Sunday’s race down in 17th place. Tsunoda, Sainz, Stroll, Bearman and Alonso all did enough to progress, leaving Ricciardo, the Saubers of Bottas and Zhou, and Ocon – who suffered yet more problems behind the wheel of his Alpine and trundled around late on – in the drop zone alongside Norris.
Knocked out: Ricciardo, Norris, Bottas, Zhou, Ocon
Q2 – Verstappen heads Leclerc ahead of pole shootout
When the remaining 15 drivers returned to the track for the start of Q2, Verstappen and Perez moved up a gear to form a provisional Red Bull one-two – the Dutchman posting a 1m 42.042s – as Piastri slotted into third from Russell, Bearman and Sainz.
Albon, Hamilton, Leclerc and Hulkenberg held the final top 10 spots at this point, in turn leaving Colapinto, Alonso, Gasly, Tsunoda and Stroll with work to do on the final, decisive runs, which would bring another heap of purple and green sector times.
Ferrari went slightly out-of-sync with their run plans at this point, enabling Leclerc to go second and Sainz fourth on a clear track, while Perez was the only driver to sit in his garage and watch the rest of the action as the minutes ticked by and the chequered flag came out.
There were no further improvements at the sharp end on the final laps, with Verstappen remaining in P1 over Leclerc and Perez, followed by Russell, Alonso and an inspired Colapinto, who brilliantly secured safe passage to the pole position shootout in only his second weekend.
Sainz, Piastri, Hamilton and the other Williams of Albon also made it through, denying Bearman, who described himself as “an idiot” over the radio after an apparent mistake, the RB of Tsunoda, the Alpine of Gasly, the other Haas of Hulkenberg and Stroll’s Aston Martin.
Knocked out: Bearman, Tsunoda, Gasly, Hulkenberg, Stroll
Q3 – Leclerc adds to his Baku tally as Albon hits trouble
Attention then turned to the pole position shootout, with Leclerc producing the lap to beat during the first runs via a 1m 41.610s, a couple of tenths quicker than Sainz, as Piastri moved into third from Russell, Perez and Verstappen, who lost time with a slide in the final sector.
Hamilton was some six-tenths off the pace, the seven-time world champion radioing that we need to “get those temperatures up”, with Albon, Colapinto and Alonso completing the provisional Q3 order – but there would be drama to follow in the Williams camp.
As cars filtered out again, Albon was bizarrely released from the garage with an airbox fan still attached to his car, forcing him to stop at the side of the track and then throw it to the marshals before attempting to make it to the start/finish line in time for another lap.
One more flat-out sequence saw Leclerc improve to a 1m 41.365s, three-tenths faster than closest challenger Piastri, who held a wobble out of Turn 15 on his final lap, while Sainz fended off Perez, Russell and Verstappen to back his team mate up in third.
Hamilton and Alonso followed in P7 and P8, with Colapinto seeing out a superb session in ninth and Albon taking 10th after the fan-related delays meant he was beaten to the line by the chequered flag dropping.
Key quote.
“The pace was always there and then in qualifying and Q3 it was all about trying to stay as far as possible off the walls,” said Leclerc, who was pole-sitter.
“In that last lap, I went for it a little more, and the lap time came in nicely. The car felt pretty nice and everything felt terrific, so it’s incredible to be on pole.”
What’s next?
The 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix will commence at 1500 local time on Sunday. Visit the RACE HUB to find out how you can watch the action from Baku.
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