Charles Leclerc will start tomorrow’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix from the lead, with Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz behind him. At the same time, rookie Franco Colapinto made it to Q3.
Q1
Charles Leclerc went fastest in Q1, with a surprising appearance of Alexander Albon in second place, just 0.124s behind the Monegasque.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri followed in third place, but what surprised most is Lando Norris’s elimination, as he sat the 17th fastest time of the session behind RB F1’s Daniel Ricciardo, who was also eliminated.
The Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell was split apart, with P5 and P9 results respectively. In-between them: Max Verstappen, Nico Hulkenberg, and rookie Franco Colapinto, making it a great start of qualifying for Williams.
Sergio Perez made it to P10 ahead of sister team’s Yuki Tsunoda. They were followed by Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll, Oliver Bearman and Fernando Alonso.
On the other hand, Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas And Guanyu Zhou, together with Esteban Ocon, completed the elimination zone.
Q2
Verstappen was the new favorite come Q2, as the Red Bull driver dominated the timing charts this time around and placed the fastest time. He was followed by Leclerc just 0.014s behind.
Perez made it to P3, showing what will be a strong performance for the Austrian squad come Sunday. He was 0.221s behind the leader. Russell and Alonso followed.
Surprisingly, Colapinto finished Q2 in P6 and made it to the final stage of qualifying. The Argentine driver was 0.431s behind the leader and ahead of Ferrari’s Sainz and McLaren’s Piastri.
The top 10 was completed by Hamilton and, barely, by Albon.
Those eliminated were Oliver Bearman, Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg and Lance Stroll – in that order.
Q3
A bizarre moment happened when Williams forgot to remove Alexander Albon’s airbox fan. He stopped at the side of the track right out of the pitlane, removing the fan and throwing it in the ground, allowing him to continue. The incident, however, will be investigated later.
It was Leclerc who topped the session with Piastri and Sainz behind him. Perez, Russell, Verstappen and Hamilton followed respectively, with Alonso, Colapinto and Albon completing the top 10 – all in the softs.