The standings of the Azerbaijan F1 Grand Prix, the seventeenth round of the World Championship, ended without surprises. Charles Leclerc achieved the twenty-sixth pole of his career, the fourth consecutive on the Baku street circuit. The Monegasque is particularly good on this circuit in terms of standings, having started from the first position on this track for four years in a row, even if he has never won here.
The Ferrari driver will try to break the curse that has haunted him in Azerbaijan after three consecutive years of starting first but failing to win. The Italian team was the big dominant force in the Azerbaijan GP standings, placing two drivers in the top three. Carlos Sainz is third, just behind Oscar Piastri’s McLaren.
Excellent result for the Scuderia on a difficult day. The track improved significantly with the passage of the classification. In fact, this caused the big surprise of the day, as Lando Norris was excluded from Q1 due to a yellow flag at the last minute. The Briton, Verstappen’s great rival for the World Championship, will start from seventeenth position, just behind Ricciardo.
Another surprise came from Williams when they put both cars into Q3. Colapinto and Albon managed to get into the top 10, but Fernando Alonso did the same and won the battle. The Spaniard had a spectacular qualifying and will start from eighth on the grid, ahead of the two Williams.
It was all I could aspire to given that Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull are on another level. Qualifying left several surprises, not only that of Norris or Williams, but also that of Verstappen. The championship leader will start sixth, behind his teammate Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez, who will start from fourth position.
This is what the F1 Azerbaijan GP standings look like
1.Leclerc
2. Piastri
3. Sainz
4. Perez
5. Russell
6. Verstappen
7. Hamilton
8. Alonzo
9. Colapinto
10. Albon
11. Bear Man
12. Tsunoda
13. Gasly
14. Hulkenberg
15. Walk
16. Ricciardo
17. Norris
18. Bottas
19. Zhou
20. Ocon
