Charles Leclerc is the king of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix standings. Once again and for the fourth consecutive year, the Monegasque driver will start in the lead of this Sunday’s race, just two weeks after his spectacular victory at Monza. Oscar Piastri (2nd) will give him a hard time on the front row and Carlos Sainz is in third place and will be aiming for victory.
The Baku circuit is always a challenge and that was about to be rediscovered by the drivers who, in theory, had the best chance of taking pole position. Verstappen dominated every wall in his final attempt in Q1 to save himself at a time when the track’s improvement was evident, but Norris metaphorically crashed out due to an unexpected yellow flag in the third sector that ruined him while he was in the elimination zone.
The surprise was huge and the best possible news for Verstappen whose Red Bull is also suffering on the Azerbaijani track, where it is also possible to overtake and that is what Norris will try to do from seventeenth place. Daniel Ricciardo (16th), Valtteri Bottas (18th), Guanyu Zhou (19th) and Esteban Ocon (20th) have just filled the last five positions.
Pleasant surprises in Q2, in which Alonso did one of those laps that are hard to believe. Especially because of the car he is in. Yes, the one in which he finished fifth and took a second from his teammate, Lance Stroll, who was eliminated in fifteenth position. Olie Bearman (11th) crashed with honors in his second GP in F1 and the Briton will be followed on the starting grid this Sunday by Yuki Tsunoda (12th), Pierre Gasly (13th), Nico Hülkenberg (14th) and the Canadian driver of Aston. Martine.
Another rookie, Colapinto, made it to Q3 with an incredible time and his team-mate Albon confirmed Williams’ improvement. But when things went wrong, Ferraris took over again. In the first attempt at Q3, Leclerc and Sainz took the front row, ahead of Piastri, Russell, Perez, Verstappen and Hamilton in that order of drivers with real options. Albon, Colapinto and Alonso, in last place, aspired to be eighth, that is to say first among mortals.
