Charles Leclerc beat Oscar Piastri to pole place for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after title contender Lando Norris was shockingly knocked out of qualifying in seventeenth.
McLaren’s admission earlier this week that it could bias its operations to profit Norris’s bid to shut his 62-point deficit to Max Verstappen within the drivers’ championship was thrown for a loop by a weird case of confusion over yellow flags on the Briton’s last flying lap.
A quickly evolving monitor meant earlier laps had been shortly rendered out of date, dumping Norris into the drop zone because the checkered flag fell. He was on monitor to enhance sufficient to make it via to Q2, however a large second exiting Flip 16 coincided with what Norris appeared to suppose was a yellow flag, just for tv replays to disclose it was a white flag warning of a slow-moving Esteban Ocon far off the racing line.
Norris nonetheless boxed moderately than finishing his lap, condemning him to seventeenth on the grid.
“Mate, I’m sorry,” his engineer, Will Joseph, radioed as he entered the lane.
It was a very pricey mistake given Verstappen and Pink Bull Racing once more failed to fireplace within the battle for pole, with the Dutchman no match for the pole-bound Leclerc. The Ferrari driver was peerless over a single lap, constructing progressively via the hour earlier than unleashing in Q3 to set the benchmark at an unassailable 1m41.365s, gapping the sphere by 0.321s to assert his fourth successive Baku pole.
“It’s one in every of my favourite tracks of the season,” he mentioned of the bizarre road circuit. “I actually prefer it.
“The tempo was all the time there, after which in qualifying and Q3 it was all about making an attempt to remain so far as attainable out of the partitions. The final lap I went for it a bit extra and the lap time got here actually properly. The automobile felt actually good and every little thing felt nice. It’s superb to be on pole.”
Piastri in second demonstrated what might have been for Norris had he made it via to Q3, setting himself up on the entrance row.
“I simply tried to essentially get essentially the most out of it,” he mentioned. “This monitor actually rewards dedication. The final laps in Q3 I knew I had so much much less to lose, so I simply tried to maximise the automobile.
“I used to be feeling good during. I’m very pleased with Q3.”
Carlos Sainz made it a Ferrari one-three end result, lapping 0.44s slower than Leclerc however crucially incomes the crew what might be a crucial strategic benefit in opposition to Piastri within the race.
“I believe we had a strong quali day usually with two vehicles,” he mentioned. “We’ve put ourselves in an excellent place for tomorrow. To be P3 is an effective place for tomorrow, as additionally my race tempo yesterday appeared sturdy, so all to play for.”
Sergio Perez outqualified teammate Verstappen for the primary time this season, placing his automobile fourth and 0.448s off the tempo on one other tough afternoon for Pink Bull Racing, which by no means appeared within the battle for pole.
Verstappen, who complained early in qualifying of a bouncing rear axle, was sixth quickest and 0.21s slower than Perez, with George Russell splitting the teammates for Mercedes in fifth. His teammate, Lewis Hamilton, adopted in seventh forward of Fernando Alonso in eighth.
Franco Colapinto was very good in his second look for Williams, qualifying ninth and handing teammate Alex Albon his first grand prix qualifying defeat of the 12 months. Albon, nonetheless, didn’t set his last lap after his crew bizarrely forgot to take away the fan from his roll hoop airbox earlier than sending him out onto the monitor.
Albon was pressured to cease at pit exit, the place he eliminated the fan himself and discarded it by the aspect of the highway, however by the point he obtained going once more he’d missed his probability to start out his lap earlier than the session ended, leaving him tenth and below post-session investigation for an unsafe launch.
Oliver Bearman was enormously spectacular in his second-ever F1 qualifying session and first for Haas to place himself eleventh on the grid and 0.223s forward of teammate Nico Hulkenberg, who was three locations additional again. There might have been extra on the desk for the Briton too, with a lock-up on his last lap costing him a greater time.
Yuki Tsunoda certified twelfth for RB forward of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Hulkenberg, with Lance Stroll ending Q2 slowest in fifteenth.
Daniel Ricciardo was pipped for a spot in Q2, leaving him sixteenth forward of Norris.
Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu certified 18th and nineteenth respectively, although Zhou will likely be demoted to twentieth behind Esteban Ocon with an influence unit penalty.
