Max Verstappen took pole place in an exhilarating Qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix which featured a document six purple flags after a number of crashes, together with a shunt for championship chief Oscar Piastri.
Verstappen snatched pole from Williams’ Carlos Sainz along with his final flying lap following two purple flags in Q3 alone for crashes from Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Piastri will begin ninth however his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris was unable to completely capitalise as he may solely qualify seventh with a scruffy lap the place he glanced the wall.
It means the McLaren duo, who’re cut up by 31 factors within the Drivers’ Championship, might want to come via the sphere in what’s set as much as be a spectacular 51 laps round Baku on Sunday when the lights exit at 12pm (build-up from 10.30am), stay on Sky Sports activities F1 and Sky Sports activities Primary Occasion.
Liam Lawson certified a career-best third for Racing Bulls and Kimi Antonelli in fourth, forward of Mercedes team-mate George Russell.
Yuki Tsunoda loved his finest qualifying as a Purple Bull driver in sixth, with Isack Hadjar in eighth, splitting title protagonists Norris and Piastri.
Ferrari confirmed loads of promise on Friday however Lewis Hamilton was knocked out in Q2 in twelfth and Leclerc crashed early in Q3, so will begin tenth.
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Lewis Hamilton shakes his head in disbelief as Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc knocks him out of Q2 on the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Hamilton, who’s but to complete on the rostrum this yr, thought he could be in rivalry for pole however each Ferrari drivers struggled within the windy circumstances.
Williams’ Alex Albon prompted the primary purple flag of a qualifying that lasted two hours when he hit the wall at Flip 1, then Nico Hulkenberg broken his Sauber and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto crashed out in Q1 too, earlier than Haas’ Oliver Bearman slapped the limitations at Flip 2 in Q2.
How Norris missed alternative and Verstappen delivered
Qualifying in Baku is at all times thrilling given the shut proximity of the partitions and a observe which rewards bravery. There had already been 4 purple flags previous to Q3 and the shock of Hamilton’s fifth failure to achieve the final a part of Qualifying confirmed how troublesome it was to get the tyres in the best window in tough circumstances.
On the primary runs, Russell went down the escape highway at Flip 4 and prompted yellow flags which compromised Norris, forcing him to abort his lap.
Then, Leclerc crashed at Flip 15 so solely three drivers have been capable of set a lap time – Sainz, Lawson and Hadjar – in that order.
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Q1 of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix ends in catastrophe for Alpine, with Pierre Gasly aborting his lap after working off into the escape highway, and Franco Colapinto crashing into the limitations
Gentle rain began to fall whereas the marshals cleared Leclerc’s automobile, which might have given Sainz pole, however the observe remained dry sufficient when the drivers got here again out for his or her second Q3 laps.
Verstappen was barely down on Sainz’s pole time after the center sector and Norris setting a purple first sector, when Piastri dramatically crashed his McLaren at Flip 3 which prompted a record-breaking sixth purple flag of qualifying and denied anybody from setting a lap.
“I think I just braked a little bit late. Disappointing obviously, I felt like the car was in a good place, but a disappointing way to end,” Piastri informed Sky Sports activities F1.
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Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris react to a tricky qualifying, which noticed Piastri crash out of Q3 and Norris qualify seventh
There have been nonetheless three minutes on the clock to permit the drivers to have a closing try however the strain was all on Norris to make the most of his team-mate’s accident.
The British driver was visibly combating his McLaren although all through the lap, shedding 9 tenths to what could be Verstappen’s pole lap within the center sector alone, whereas glancing the limitations at Flip 15.
Even with out that contact, Norris seemingly nonetheless wouldn’t have challenged the entrance two rows as he settled for seventh. In the meantime, Verstappen delivered a surprising lap and confirmed why he is a four-time world champion with an excellent lap to take pole from Sainz by almost half a second.
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Watch the second that Max Verstappen took a shock pole on the Azerbaijan GP
Sky Sports activities F1’s Azerbaijan GP schedule
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Look again at a number of the most dramatic moments to have taken place across the Baku Metropolis Circuit
Sunday September 21
7.55am: F2 Characteristic Race
10.30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Azerbaijan GP build-up*
12pm: THE AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX*
2pm: Chequered Flag: Azerbaijan GP response
3pm: Ted’s Pocket book
*additionally stay on Sky Sports activities Primary Occasion
Method 1 is in Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with lights out on Sunday at 12pm and build-up from 10.30am, stay on Sky Sports activities F1 and Sky Sports activities Primary Occasion. Stream Sky Sports activities with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
