Verstappen tops wild Baku qualifying after Piastri crashes out

Max Verstappen will start the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from pole position alongside Carlos Sainz after a marathon two-hour qualifying session featuring a record six red flags and a crash for championship leader Oscar Piastri.

Piastri carried far too much speed into Turn 3, sailing past the apex and understeering into the wall, the front end of his car disappearing into the Tecpro barriers.

The title leader and 2024 Baku winner, who hasn’t started a race lower than fourth this season, will start Sunday’s grand prix ninth, two places behind championship rival Lando Norris in seventh. He was spared 10th place only when Charles Leclerc's streak of four successive poles in Azerbaijan was broken by a crash at Turn 15 in light rain earlier in Q3.

The Ferrari driver's entered the tricky downhill left-hander too fast, locking up his front-left tire and spearing helplessly into the barriers. It compounded a disastrous session for pole hopeful Ferrari, which also suffered Lewis Hamilton being knocked out in Q2 due in part to tire strategy.

Both Q3 crashes triggered red flags – the fifth and record-breaking sixth of the session – before which only Carlos Sainz, Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar managed to set a time.

There was time enough for just one flying lap when the session eventually resumed from its dual suspensions. Light rain complicated the scenario for those without a time, but it was music to Sainz’s ears, with driver after driver failing to beat him.

Norris looked most likely to pinch top spot from the Spaniard, and the Briton had been presented with an open goal to potentially score heavily against his crashed-out teammate. But the championship challenger entered Turn 15 too quickly, smacking his right-side tires against the barriers. He continued to complete the lap, but it wasn't enough to take top spot.

Instead it fell to Verstappen to deny Sainz with a superlative lap in tricky, high-pressure conditions, the Dutchman lowering the benchmark to 1m41.117s to take pole by 0.478s.

“It was very difficult to get your lap together,” he said. “Especially Q3, with also a bit of rain around, it was a very difficult session – then on the final lap you just have to send it.

“I’m very happy with so far how the weekend has gone, because from FP1 we were not too bad and we just kept on improving by a tiny amount, and we were there in qualifying, which is when it matters.”

“I’m happy because it seems like since Monza we’re doing a better job. I hope we can continue in that way.”

No other driver was able to get even with 0.1s of Sainz, whose execution early in Q3 was pivotal to his best qualifying result since last year’s Qatar Grand Prix and the first Williams front-row start since the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix.

“Honestly, we nailed qualifying today, every time being on the right tire at the right time and putting together some very strong laps,” he said. “Obviously the moment a top car put the lap together we were going to be 0.4s, 0.5s behind like we are always, but there was only one of them, which was Max. The others, we managed to beat them.

“I’ve been putting good laps together in qualifying this year. Again we proved the speed in this car and this team is there in delivering in qualifying when it counts.”

Lawson will start an excellent third after the best qualifying result of his career, after improving with his final lap.

“Honestly, I can’t even remember what happened, it was so busy,” he said. “The car’s been good all weekend. When it needed to be in quali, it was good.

“We have a great starting position, but we’re aware of who we’re fighting around us, and that’s what we’ll be focused on.”

Andrea Kimi Antonelli outqualified teammate George Russell for just the second time this season, the Mercedes drivers qualifying fourth and fifth, though the Italian will see the stewards after the session for an alleged yellow flag infringement from Q1.

Yuki Tsunoda qualified sixth, his best result since the Australian Grand Prix when he was in the Racing Bulls car, ahead of Norris and Hadjar. The crashed-out Piastri and Leclerc will start ninth and 10th.

Fernando Alonso was 11th after missing out on an unlikely Q3 berth by 0.069s.

Hamilton was a shock elimination in 12th after attempting to complete the bulk of the session on a single set of soft tires. That left him vulnerable late, with his final flying lap putting him 10th in the order, and Alonso and then, ironically, teammate Leclerc dumped him out of safety and down to his starting position.

Gabriel Bortoleto qualified 13th ahead of Lance Stroll, who was tripped up by a strong tailwind into Turn 1 on his final lap.

Oliver Bearman qualified 15th without a time in Q2 after breaking his right-rear suspension against the barriers exiting Turn 2 on his first flying lap, causing the afternoon’s fourth red flag.

Franco Colapinto will line up 16th after crashing out of Q1 on his final flying lap in an incident involving teammate Pierre Gasly.

Gasly was blown into the run-off zone at Turn 4 by an errant gust of wind, spoiling his last lap and triggering white flags – signaling a slow or stopped car – at the corner. Colapinto was some way behind him and lost control of his Alpine as he navigated the corner.

His car smacked heavily into the outside barrier, momentarily becoming airborne, before coming to rest in a heap and causing a red flag. The Argentine walked away from the wreckage uninjured but eliminated from qualifying.

Nico Hulkenberg also found himself in the Turn 4 barrier, locking up and sliding directly into the wall earlier in Q1 to cause a red flag. The German was able to return to pit lane without his front wing to rejoin the session, but damage to his floor ensured he was unable to improve, leaving him 17th.

Esteban Ocon qualified 18th ahead of Gasly and Alex Albon, who was the first driver to crash out of Q1 when he clipped the apex barrier at the first turn, instantly breaking his suspension and causing him to stop on track, triggering the afternoon’s first red flag.

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