The Azerbaijan GP weekend continues to be manic after a qualifying session that was red flagged 4 times. Leclerc has taken his second pole in a row, while Hamilton managed to drag his mercedes into 2nd. Championship rival Verstappen is just behind in 3rd while Gasly stormed to a 4th place finish.
Q1
It was a race against time at Williams. The mechanics were still attempting to fix Russell’s car when the session began.
There had been numerous crashes in practice and qualifying followed suit. Stroll collided with the barriers at turn 15, taking off the front right part of his car. The red flag came out, giving Russell a huge lifeline.
Qualifying resumed with 14 minutes left, but with only one time on the board. Half of the grid managed to complete a lap until the session was red flagged for a second time. Turn 15 claimed another victim in the form of Giovinazzi. A very similar crash to Stroll, ripping off the front right tyre.
With 9 minutes on the clock, 10 drivers, including both Mercedes and both Mclarens, were yet to set a time. Furthermore, these 10 drivers had already used up the best part of two sets of tyres. Meanwhile, championship contenders Red Bull had locked out the front of the grid.
Mercedes initial runs placed them both in the top 10, but on the second run, Hamilton leapt to the top of the standings for the first time throughout the weekend.
With 2 cars already eliminated, only 3 more would be denied entry into Q2. Both Haas were far off the pace with Schumacher again outperforming Mazepin. The final remaining space was taken by Latifi, only 0.1s off from Alonso in P15.
Eliminated:
- 16th Latifi
- 17th Schumacher
- 18th Mazepin
- 19th Giovinazzi
- 20th Stroll
Q2
The drivers were eager to get out for Q2 and there were a few near misses in the pits. After the initial runs, Verstappen was leading Perez and Hamilton with the Ferraris behind. 0.034s covered the top 4.
With just under 2 minutes of the session left, numerous cars were lining up for a final fast run, but Ricciardo found his way into the barriers at turn 3 and brought out another Red flag. Except, the session would not be restarted, denying many drivers the opportunity to get out of Q2. Most notably was Vettel, missing out by 0.029s.
Eliminated:
- 11th Vettel
- 12th Ocon
- 13th Ricciardo
- 14th Raikkonen
- 15th Russell
Q3
The inital runs gave an unexpected turn. Leclerc took provisional pole ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen. Gasly stormed to a very impressive 4th after a tow from his team-mate. As the cars prepared for their final runs, the traffic issue started to rear it’s head. Bottas started by backing up the queue, all drivers waiting for a slipstream.
But, there was still one more twist in this chaotic tale. Tsunoda, who was one of the first to start his final flying lap, smashed into the barriers at turn 3. This was followed by Sainz spinning out just behind. This cancelled all driver’s flying laps, meaning that Leclerc’s provisional pole would stand. Hamilton took a suprising 2nd place ahead of championship rival Verstappen and a stellar Gasly.
Top 10
- Leclerc
- Hamilton
- Verstappen
- Gasly
- Sainz
- Norris
- Perez
- Tsunoda
- Alonso
- Bottas
All eyes have now turned to tomorrow. Baku is known for throwing some incredible races and with a grid this mixed up, it’s going to be a must watch race.
Featured Image Credit: @F1 Official Twitter
