Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc came out on top after a dynamic qualifying at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, followed by Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen. Carlos Sainz rounded out the top four, which was once again locked out by the leading teams.
Q1: Red flag results in dramatic race to the line
The start of Q1 was delayed by fifteen minutes in order to meet the requirement of two hours between Free Practice One and Qualifying, as the earlier practice was delayed to fix the barriers damaged after a last-lap crash in the F2 sprint race. Drivers were queued up in the pit lane and eager to get out on track before the green light was illuminated.
The championship-contending teams of Ferrari and Red Bull put in competitive laps right away, securing their place in the next round early on. George Russell put in a time of 1:43.781 to slide into fourth, with BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso taking sixth and seventh soon after, and Lando Norris taking eighth. Pierre Gasly then joined the top ten with a 1:44.035. Zhou Guanyu later put in an impressive effort for fifth with a 1:43.777 with over eight minutes to go.
With four minutes left, Lance Stroll had a run straight into the wall at turn 7, which caused a yellow flag and left him with some potential front wing damage. That wasn’t the end of his misfortune, however, as with two and a half minutes to go he had another crash into a wall that left his car heavily damaged. A red flag was brought out, and Stroll was out of qualifying.
As of the red flag, the elimination zone consisted of Alex Albon, Valtteri Bottas, Nicholas Latifi, Lance Stroll and Mick Schumacher. With such little time to spare once running resumed, the drivers at risk scrambled to get to the line in time to put in a final lap. This resulted in a dramatic last few minutes of Q1, but in the end, the only Bottas was able to scrape by and join the advancing drivers with a 1:44.478, knocking out Kevin Magnussen as a result.
Eliminated: Magnussen, Albon, Latifi, Stroll, Schumacher
Q2: McLarens knocked out in intense top ten shootout
As Q2 got going and the drivers put in their first attempts, Sainz was on top with a 1:42.088 ahead of team-mate Leclerc. The Red Bulls of Verstappen and Sainz followed close behind. Gasly was fifth with a 1:43.129, ahead of Russell, Vettel, Alonso, Tsunoda and Norris.
Lewis Hamilton, who had been struggling with the ride of his car all weekend, Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo were at risk after the first round of flying laps came through, while Alfa Romeo Racing’s Bottas and Zhou remained in their garages and hadn’t set times yet.
With seven minutes to go, Vettel locked up and found himself in the wall after what appeared to be a brake by wire failure. He was able to continue after a brief yellow flag.
Perez set the first time in the 1:41’s of the weekend with a 1:41.955, taking first position off of Sainz. Leclerc came closer to the benchmark time with a time of 1:42.046, moving up to second.
In the competitive fight to be on top or ensure entry into Q3, we see many scuffs against the walls and runs into the escape roads in the final minutes from several drivers. Hamilton was able to escape elimination with a 1:43.182, with a well-timed tow from team-mate Russell. In ensuring the correct timing to receive that tow, however, he was marked by the stewards for driving unnecessarily slowly and would be investigated after the session.
Both McLarens, Norris and Ricciardo, made late attempts to break out of the drop zone, but both were unable to shave off enough time– they joined Ocon and both Alfa Romeos in elimination.
Eliminated: Norris, Ricciardo, Ocon, Zhou, Bottas
Q3: Red Bull and Ferrari battle for pole
As the drivers put in their first flying laps of Q3, Ferrari and Red Bull rose quickly to the top, with Sainz coming out on top out of the gate with a 1:41.814. His team-mate Leclerc followed just four hundredths behind, as the Red Bulls of Perez and Verstappen slid into third and fourth.
Over a second behind the leading pack, Gasly’s time of 1:42.845 placed him fifth, with Russell slotting in just behind in sixth. Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso and Tsunoda follow, all within tenths of each other in the tight battle for position.
The drivers went back to the pits to prepare for their next lap. Sainz was first of the pole-contenders back out again to try and best his time, but a shaky first sector cost him the attempt. His team-mate Leclerc took purple first and second sectors in a sharp lap soon after, taking pole off of Sainz by almost half a second.
Verstappen was next to put in his lap and moved up to second, unable to knock Leclerc off of pole. Team-mate Perez, who has proven his pace throughout the weekend in Baku, was also able to improve and ended up sliding between Leclerc and Verstappen for second. After all was said and done, Leclerc had secured his sixth pole position of the season.
Once all the drivers met the checkered flag, Russell was able to move up into fifth and push Gasly down to sixth, while Hamilton was able to move up to seventh. Tsunoda earned a season best qualifying result in eighth. Vettel, matching his season best qualifying, and Alonso rounded out the top ten in ninth and tenth.
| Pos | No | Driver | Nat. | Car | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
| 1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:42.865 | 1:42.046 | 1:41.359 | 19 |
| 2 | 11 | Sergio Perez | MEX | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:42.733 | 1:41.955 | 1:41.641 | 18 |
| 3 | 33 | Max Verstappen | NED | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:42.722 | 1:42.227 | 1:41.706 | 19 |
| 4 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:42.957 | 1:42.088 | 1:41.814 | 19 |
| 5 | 63 | George Russell | GBR | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 1:43.754 | 1:43.281 | 1:42.712 | 23 |
| 6 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | Scuderia AlphaTauri | 1:43.268 | 1:43.129 | 1:42.845 | 23 |
| 7 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 1:43.939 | 1:43.182 | 1:42.924 | 22 |
| 8 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | JAP | Scuderia AlphaTauri | 1:43.595 | 1:43.376 | 1:43.056 | 22 |
| 9 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | GER | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | 1:43.279 | 1:43.268 | 1:43.091 | 18 |
| 10 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ESP | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1:44.083 | 1:43.360 | 1:43.173 | 20 |
| 11 | 4 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren F1 Team | 1:44.237 | 1:43.398 | 16 | |
| 12 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | AUS | McLaren F1 Team | 1:44.437 | 1:43.574 | 17 | |
| 13 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1:43.903 | 1:43.585 | 13 | |
| 14 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | CHN | Alfa Romeo Racing | 1:43.777 | 1:43.790 | 13 | |
| 15 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Alfa Romeo Racing | 1:44.478 | 1:44.444 | 13 | |
| 16 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | DEN | Haas F1 Team | 1:44.643 | 9 | ||
| 17 | 23 | Alexander Albon | THA | Williams Racing | 1:44.719 | 9 | ||
| 18 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | CAN | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | 1:45.367 | 8 | ||
| 19 | 18 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Williams Racing | 1:45.371 | 7 | ||
| 20 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | GER | Haas F1 Team | 1:45.775 | 9 |