Max Verstappen denies the Carlos Sainz pole while Oscar Piastri crashes in Baku qualifying filled with theater
Max Verstappen denied Carlos Sainz a shocking pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix while the leader of the pilot championship, Oscar Piastri, crashed.
The driver of Red Bull claimed consecutive pole positions after an exciting qualification session which was affected by an F1 record of six red flags, the last having enormous ramifications on the final order.
With Sainz, Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar having established tricks in the third quarter and raindrops starting to fall, Charles Leclerc de Ferrari struck the barrier at turn 15 to bring out the red flag and prevent anyone else from finishing a time above.
When the session has resumed, Lando Norris and Verstappen fixed the fastest sectoral times, but spectacularly, Piastri hit the barrier at turn 3 to cause another stop with less than four minutes in time.
With the green light, the track conditions were far from optimal and the drivers rushed to find the handle, Verstappen fixing a 1m 41,117 to refuse the Sainz pole by a little less than half a second.
Lawson improved with his second round to stay third, in front of the Mercedes cars in Kimi Antonelli and George Russell and the second Bull Red by Yuki Tsunoda.
Norris failed to capitalize on the crucial error of his teammate with a disjointed turn which left him only P7 before Hadjar and the timeless Piastri and Leclerc.
Despite an impressive performance through training, Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in the second quarter after having struggled to chain a tour together, leaving the Ferrari P12 driver and behind Aston Martin de Fernando Alonso.
The kick of Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber led the second Aston Martin de Lance Stroll, while the recruit of Haas Ollie Bearman ended up with P15 and without a time after hitting the barrier at the exit of turn 2 which caused a red flag.
Franco Colapinto was left 16th and eliminated in the first trimester after the alpine driver released the red flag at the end of the session, after hitting the barrier at turn 4.
Nico Hulkenberg finished P17 and also caused a stop earlier after hitting the barrier in the same turn, while Esteban Ocon (Haas), Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Alex Albon finished the command, Williams’ driver highlighting the first red flag after hitting the wall 1.
As it happened
Q1 – Norris opens the way after three red flags
With drops of falling rain and violent winds playing their role, the conditions were variable and likely to cause unpredictability to drivers, which prompted the majority of the land to go immediately when the green light displayed at the end of the lane of the stands.
After opening the Salvos, Leclerc paved the way on a 1m 41.982 from Verstappen and Norris, McLarens and the two Red Bulls using the average Pirelli tire for their opening towers.
But before Piastri could finish his knees, the red flags were deployed, Albon having struck the inner wall at the bend 1, which stopped his Williams with a damaged suspension and left it in the first quarter with 11 minutes remaining.
Drivers have once again queue in the stands, even with three minutes remaining until the exit of the tank reopens, such was the urgency to register more quickly with another stop being probably given the ruthless nature of the Baku circuit.
This came with a little more than six minutes to play, Hulkenberg having run head -on in the barrier at turn 4 before rejoicing less from his front wing, the red flag falling just after Piastri established a time good enough for the second behind Hamilton, the Ferrari driver displaying a 1m 41.821.
The driver under most pressures once the race has resumed was Antonelli, the recruit of Mercedes who had lost his best time of turn after having run in the turn 16 and also placed under investigation for a violation of the yellow flag after the anterior incident of Albon.
The Italian delivered the average tire, jumping to sixth row at the start, while Russell, Leclerc then Norris all occupied the first place in rapid estate.
At the dawn of elimination, Hadjar jumped at P5 while Aston Martins avoided the deposit area when a third red flag was deployed after the drama for Alpine pilots at turn 4 in separate incidents. Gasly was left in the runoff and, a few seconds later, Colapinto lost the back in the area and slammed in the wall.
The Argentine driver was left failed and outside in P16, while Hulkenberg, Ocon, Gasly and Albon were also eliminated in Q1, while Norris directed Verstappen, Leclerc and Russell at the top of the Order, with Piastri finishing P7.
Kincé: Colapinto, Hulkenberg, Ocon, Gasly, Albon
Q2 – Verstappen directs the McLarens while Hamilton is missing
The incidents continued immediately in the second quarter, Hadjar heading towards the runoff during his turn at the turn 4 before Bearman took out the fourth red flag when he struck the wall at the exit of turn 2.
While Leclerc bangelled his first flying round after having run deep at turn 1, Norris jumped at the top on a 1m 41.396 with the soft tire while Russell and Antonelli on the means slipped behind, with Piastri fourth and more than two tensmes behind his teammate after launching the barrier in Tour 15.
Verstappen jumped in the second row while a decreasing round for Hamilton left it in danger before the last points, with Leclerc still to record a time in the last five minutes after having run at the edge of turn 3 and wasted another attempt.
Leclerc finally established a fairly good time for the fourth and security on the middle for a time despite a glance at the barrier at turn 2, but Hamilton was left for 10th despite a small improvement on the soft tire and was soon in the deposit area and eliminated.
Tsunoda, meanwhile, downgraded Alonso to make the third quarter while his teammate Verstappen was launched at the top of the time with a 1m 41.255 on the average tire to direct Norris, Piastri, Russell, Antonelli, Leclerc, Lawson, Hadjar and Sainz.
Bortoleto joined Alonso and Hamilton in the elimination area, after slipping around 16, a walk that ran in the runoff at turn 1 and the timeless Bearman.
Kincé: Alonso, Hamilton, Bortoleto, Stroll, Bearman
Q3 – Verstappen denies Sainz as Crash Leclerc and Piastri
The rain drops starting to fall, eight pilots immediately hit the track on a mixture of medium and soft tires, while the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Tsunoda remained in the garage.
Norris was forced to retreat for his first attempt after Russell before entered the Tour 4 runoff, Sainz having established the fastest time of Lawson and Hadjar.
Piastri was a few seconds to finish his knees, but the fifth red qualification flag was shown after Leclerc hit the wall at turn 15, causing another delay.
On the restart, Verstappen and Norris fixed the fastest sectoral times, but it was Piastri’s turn to hit the barrier, this time at turn 3, to cause another stop.
When the session resumed – while the total qualification time approached two hours – the conditions were far from optimal and Norris set a scouring lap after looking at the barrier at the bend 15, which finally left him P7 and only two points ahead of the Rival of the Piastri title.
Behind, the drivers improved, including Lawson, who did enough to secure the third, while Verstappen was the only one able to beat Sainz’s efforts, displaying a 1m 41.117.
Antonelli was the best of Russell and Tsunoda, with Norris at the head of Hadjar and timeless Piastri and Leclerc.
Key quote
“Long qualification, to be honest, with so many red flags!” Said Verstappen afterwards. “It was difficult to come together because most of the time, your tires are not really ready, or a red flag occurs. Especially the Q3, with a little rain around … It was a very difficult session. On the last lap, just send it. I was not even on the best tires I wanted, but because of all the red flags, we essentially think of a little quantity. Qualifications.
What is the next step
The Azerbaijan 2025 Grand Prix should start at 1500 local hours on Sunday. Head to the Racing hub To find out how you can take the action of Baku.
