George Russell went 8 tenths clear of Leclerc in second place in order to take pole position ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Q1
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli had an awful qualifying session as he hit the apex of turn 1 and broke the front left wheel of his car. While he was able to technically make it through to Q2, the banker lap he set being good enough for the top 16, he would take no further part in this session.
Audi were struggling for pace despite a raft of upgrades this weekend, with a total of 14 new parts on the car this weekend. However, they would prove to be of no help to the drivers, as both Hulkenberg and Bortoleto would find themselves being eliminated in Q1.
ELIMINATED
17. Gabriel Bortoleto – Audi +0.264
18. Nico Hulkenberg – Audi +0.385
19. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin +1.058
20. Sergio Perez – Cadillac +1.123
21. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin +1.802
22. Valtteri Bottas – Cadillac +2.755
Q2
Williams were another team who had brought a number of upgrades this weekend, and they actually seemed to help push the car in the right direction, as Sainz’s 9th place finish in Q2 would give him the team’s first Q3 appearance of the season.
The fight for pole position looked as though it would prove to be an entertaining end to qualifying, as the top 7 were all separated by 3.5 tenths at the end of Q2, making it anybody’s to take.
ELIMINATED
11. Ollie Bearman – Haas +0.092
12. Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls +0.177
13. Alex Albon – Williams +0.318
14. Esteban Ocon – Haas +0.333
15. Arvid Lindblad – Racing Bulls +0.423
16. Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes NO TIME
Q3
Despite a decent lap from Russell, it would actually be Piastri who would take provisional pole position after everyone’s first flying laps, having just squeezed ahead of teammate Norris, who himself had only marginally pushed Russell down a place.
Russell would quickly snatch pole position back after his second run, clearing both McLarens by half a second, all the while Leclerc would bring himself up to second place, but much more marginally ahead of Piastri and Norris.
Everyone would actually go on to set an additional third lap, where Russell would extend his gap at the top even further, getting close to a second ahead of everybody else on track. While the likes of Leclerc and Piastri would all set quicker times to cut that gap to the top down, no one was even remotely close to unseating Russell from pole position by the end of the session.
Qualifying Results
1. George Russell – Mercedes 1:42.526
2. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari+0.837
3. Oscar Piastri – McLaren +0.838
4. Isack Hadjar – Red Bull +0.974
5. Lando Norris – McLaren +1.146
6. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari +1.332
7. Pierre Gasly – Alpine +1.521
8. Max Verstappen – Red Bull +1.555
9. Carlos Sainz – Williams +2.040
10. Franco Colapinto – Alpine +2.437
