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Max Verstappen takes a dominant pole position on a slippery track during a red-flag-heavy qualifying session, while McLaren qualify P7 and P9.
Throughout the two-hour session, six cars crashed, most notably championship leader Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, setting a new record with six red flags.
Q1
Q1 buzzed with activity as all 20 cars navigated the narrow, highly technical circuit, with a strong tailwind impacting many drivers’ laps. The session quickly turned chaotic when Alex Albon clipped the wall, triggering the first red flag just minutes in. Nico Hulkenberg followed suit, wrecking his front wing after the session resumed, leading to another stoppage. In the final moments, both Alpines went off track, with Franco Colapinto hitting the wall.
Drivers fitted a mix of tyres, with McLarens and Verstappen starting on mediums, while the rest opted for softs. Some switched to mediums after the red flags, but most, including Ferrari, stuck with softs.
Under pressure was championship leader Oscar Piastri and rookie Kimi Antonelli, the latter of whom managed to get his first lap in the nick of time before the second red flag, unlike Antonelli, who only set his first time in the final few minutes. Fernando Alonso snuck through into Q2 by a matter of seconds as the red flag was waved as the session ended.
Albon, Hulkenberg, Gasly, Ocon, and Colapinto failed to reach Q2.
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Q2
After a delayed start to Q2, Carlos Sainz, the remaining Williams driver, was the first out on track. This marked the first time Sainz outqualified any teammate in Azerbaijan.
Isack Hadjar found the run-off early in the session without affecting anyone’s hot lap, but Ollie Bearman crashed moments later, causing the fourth red flag of qualifying.
Once Q2 resumed, it ran smoothly, although Charles Leclerc had a few off-track excursions. He managed to secure P6 and advance to Q3. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton couldn’t put together a competitive lap on dead soft tyres and ran out of time before the chequered flag, joining Bearman, Bortoleto, Stroll, and Alonso in elimination.
Both Red Bulls and Racing Bulls advanced to Q3 for the first time in several races, signaling a positive shift for the team following their restructuring in July.
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Q3
Q3 began without delay, with all ten cars hitting the track.
Lawson reported the first drops of rain, and Verstappen later confirmed the track felt slippery due to the rain. George Russell found the run-off early, while Leclerc crashed, ruining both his and Ferrari’s chances for pole.
Sainz, Hadjar, and Lawson set laps before the fifth red flag of the session, crucially doing so before the rain intensified.
An hour and forty minutes into qualifying, Oscar Piastri crashed into the wall at turn 3 after a stellar first two turns, pushing his car too hard in the third turn.
This incident opened the door for Lando Norris to gain significant points on his championship rival, but he lost his chance as his rear squirmed in sectors two and three, resulting in a light wall tap and leaving him in P7. Still, he starts ahead of teammate Piastri and aims to finish ahead to chip away at the 30-point lead.
Max Verstappen lit up the stopwatch, securing his second pole position in as many races. Joining him on the front row are Carlos Sainz, who achieved the highest qualifying position for Williams in years, and Liam Lawson.
Lawson is reportedly in a battle with Yuki Tsunoda, who qualified P6, for a Racing Bulls seat next year. Antonelli outqualified Russell for the first time since Miami, while Hadjar took P8, with Leclerc and Piastri behind him.
McLaren faces a tough challenge to secure a podium and outscore both Ferrari and Mercedes to clinch the constructors’ title, which now seems likely to extend to Singapore.
Chaos reigned in one of the longest qualifying sessions of the season, making a good case against the supposed short attention span of fans, following the boredom of the fastest ever F1 race last weekend in Monza.
Featured Image: Red Bull Content Pool / Michael Potts/LAT Images / Getty Images
