Six red flags

Verstappen takes pole position in chaotic qualifying

Max Verstappen took pole position in Baku.(Bild: AP/Darko Bandic)

Max Verstappen took pole position in the chaotic qualifying session in Baku. Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson took the surprising second and third places. World championship leader Oscar Piastri and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc crashed in Q1 and caused two of the six (!) red flags.

 

Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen secured pole position on Saturday in a chaotic and accident-filled qualifying session in Baku. The Dutch Red Bull driver will start Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the front of the grid for the first time, followed sensationally by Williams driver Carlos Sainz and Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson. World championship leader Oscar Piastri crashed in his McLaren, as did Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.

Max Verstappen took pole position in Baku.(Bild: AP/Darko Bandic)

Here is the result:

"Such a difficult qualifying"
 "Unbelievable, it was such a difficult qualifying with the red flags," Verstappen radioed overjoyed to the pits after the almost two-hour qualifying session. It was the four-time champion's second pole in a row after Monza. Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli finished fourth ahead of his team-mate George Russell. Yuki Tsunoda put the second Red Bull in sixth place, while McLaren driver Lando Norris, who was fast in practice, was unable to finish higher than seventh.

Here is the standings in the drivers' championship:

Leclerc and Piastri out in Q3
Last year's winner Piastri misjudged his position in the final and crashed heavily into the barriers with his McLaren. Shortly before that, Leclerc, who had recently finished on pole four times in a row in Baku, also crashed his car into the barrier. Piastri will therefore start the race from ninth place, directly ahead of Leclerc. Team-mate and record world champion Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, made a mistake in Q2 and had to settle for twelfth place. However, grid position is not the most relevant factor in the often chaotic race on the sometimes narrow street circuit compared to other tracks. Leclerc had never been able to convert his pole position in Azerbaijan's capital into a Grand Prix victory.

Oscar Piastri retired in Q3.(Bild: AFP/ANTON VAGANOV)

Six red flags
The drivers had to battle hard in the gusty conditions in the "City of Winds" on the Caspian Sea. In the first section, Alexander Albon, Nico Hülkenberg and Franco Colapinto each brought out a red flag. Albon destroyed the front suspension of his Williams car with an impact in the first corner, Hülkenberg demolished the front wing of his Sauber and Colapinto spun his Alpine into the wall. In Q2, Haas driver Oliver Bearman caused the next interruption before Leclerc and Piastri also destroyed their cars.

McLaren can secure first title
Piastri has a 31-point lead in the championship duel with Norris ahead of the 17th of 24 races this season. On Sunday, McLaren also has the first match point in the constructors' championship. The Papaya team is 337 points ahead of Ferrari and needs to score at least nine points more than the Scuderia to secure its first title. Meanwhile, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix will remain on the F1 calendar up to and including 2030, with the premature extension of four years announced by the premier class of motorsport on Saturday.