Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured pole for the fourth consecutive yr on the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday forward of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
As title challenger Lando Norris of McLaren certified solely seventeenth, the Monegasque driver, who gained the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in his final outing, continued his supreme single lap type to wind up three-tenths of a second forward of Piastri.
It was the twenty sixth pole of his profession at a monitor the place he has but to win.
Carlos Sainz was third within the second Ferrari and Sergio Perez fourth for Purple Bull forward of Mercedes’ George Russell.
Three-time world champion and sequence chief Max Verstappen was sixth within the second Purple Bull as his latest struggles continued.
Verstappen leads Norris by 62 factors within the title race with eight races of the season remaining.
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was seventh for Mercedes forward of two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, Argentine new boy Franco Colapinto of Williams and his team-mate Alex Albon.
The session started in slanting sunshine throughout the previous metropolis by the Caspian Sea, the Mercedes duo fast to enter the fray on medium tyres for 2 exploratory laps of the slippery avenue monitor.
Because the situations improved, Leclerc produced a lap in 1:42.775 to go high whereas Mercedes switched to softs, Russell swiftly leaping to second and Hamilton to fourth.
However in a closing scrabble for locations, as Piastri went third behind Leclerc and Albon, Norris pitted and missed the lower, eradicated in seventeenth place forward of solely the Saubers and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. RB’s Daniel Ricciardo was additionally out.
It was Norris’s first Q1 elimination because the Las Vegas race final yr (2023).
Q2 noticed Verstappen on high forward of Leclerc with Perez and Sainz third and fourth.
After a closing flurry, Alonso rose to fifth and Colapinto to sixth whereas Albon held on to tenth to push Bearman out in eleventh together with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg of Haas and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
The highest-10 shootout started with Leclerc, in 1:46.610, on high forward of Sainz after an early lap by Russell.
As the ultimate laps started, Albon left the pits with an airbox fan nonetheless hooked up to his Williams automotive. He pulled it off and threw it to a marshal.
This weird incident didn’t distract Ferrari or Leclerc, nonetheless, as he reeled off 1:43.365 to seize his fourth consecutive Baku pole.
UPDATE: Apine’s Pierre Gasley was disqualified from qualifying over a gasoline circulation breach, which means he misplaced his thirteenth place and can begin behind the sphere.
Grid for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix after qualifying:
Entrance row
Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari)
Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren)
2nd row
Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari)
Sergio Perez (MEX/Purple Bull)
third row
George Russell (GBR/Mercedes)
Max Verstappen (NED/Purple Bull)
4th row
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes),
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin)
fifth row
Franco Colapinto (ARG/Williams)
Alex Albon (THA/Williams)
sixth row
Oliver Bearman (GBR/Haas)
Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/RB)
seventh row
Nico Hülkenberg (GER/Haas)
Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin)
eighth row
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/RB)
Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren)
ninth row
Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Sauber)
Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine)
tenth row
Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Sauber)
Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine)