Qualifying for round 17 of the 2025 F1 season at the Azerbaijan GP in Baku is in the books, full report and results here.
Lando Norris was fastest in final practice but Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton kept the McLarens very honest.
Q1
Alex Albon logged a 1:43.778 to kick things off in qualifying. Behind him, Nico Hülkenberg had a big moment as he touched the tyres in turn 15 but got away with it. Sainz was first into the 1:42s, before Liam Lawson did a 1:42.448 to go fastest by 0.187s.
Albon is finished early
Heading into turn 1 on his next push lap, Alex Albon clipped the inside wall and broke his left front suspension, parking his car after pit exit. A red flag was thrown with 11:33 remaining.
Leclerc (1:41.982), Verstappen (0.228s), Norris (0.425s), Lawson, Sainz, Russell, Hamilton, Tsunoda, Alonso and Bearman was the top 10 before it went green. The Red Bulls and McLarens were on mediums. Oscar Piastri was on a very good lap before the red flag got thrown.
Once things resumed, Lewis Hamilton logged a 1:41.821 to go P1 on softs, 0.018s faster than Oscar Piastri on mediums. Leclerc, Verstappen, Tsunoda and Norris completed the top 6.
Kimi Antonelli was on an okay lap but a snap of oversteer in turn 16 forced him off track as a gust of wind got him according to Mercedes.
Hülkenberg finds the tyres
A second red flag had to be thrown with 6:36 left as Nico Hülkenberg broke his front wing after hitting the tyres at turn 4. Plenty of debris was left there.
Critically for the championship leader Oscar Piastri, he got his time in just before this red flag appeared.
Stroll, Albon, Bortoleto, Hülkenberg and Antonelli was the bottom five when the session got going again.
An extraordinary end to Q1
With Pierre Gasly down in the turn 4 run-off, Franco Colapinto was behind on a push lap. The Argentine driver lost the car and hit the tyres hard, bringing an end to the session. Both were out in Q1 after Colapinto had a clear edge on pace before that.
Luckily for many drivers, they had improved before the third red flag appeared. Both Astons got inside the top 10 along with Kimi Antonelli, while Isack Hadjar did a cracking lap to go 5th. Bortoleto recovered from practice struggles to get through in P13.
Lando Norris used softs to go P1, 0.009s quicker than Max Verstappen on mediums.
Colapinto, Hülkenberg, Ocon, Gasly and Albon exited in Q1.
F1 Q1 Azerbaijan GP qualifying results
Q2
A red flag appears quickly
The red flags appeared for a fourth time as Ollie Bearman broke his right rear suspension. He touched the outside wall on the exit of turn 2, sustaining too much damage.
Charles Leclerc had a messy start to Q2, making two separate mistakes in turns 1 and 3 and had to abandon both laps.
Lando Norris did a 1:41.396 on softs, 0.050s faster than Verstappen on mediums. Russell was 0.009s slower on the same tyre as the Dutchman, with teammate Antonelli less than a tenth behind him.
Piastri, Sainz, Lawson, Hadjar, Tsunoda and Hamilton completed the top 10 with five minutes to go. The championship leader did have a massive scare as he had a snap in turn 15 and touched the tyres.
With Max Verstappen topping Q2 at the end thanks to a 1:41.255 on mediums, Norris and Piastri rounded out the top 3. They were the only drivers to get through on that tyre.
Russell, Antonelli, Leclerc, Lawson, Hadjar, Sainz and Tsunoda also made it. Fernando Alonso missed out by 0.069s.
The massive shock was Lewis Hamilton. He could only finish P12, 0.928s off P1. He missed out on a top 10 place by 0.495s.Hamilton had used softs.
Bortoleto, Stroll and Bearman were the others to fall.
F1 Q2 Azerbaijan GP qualifying results
Q3
Charles Leclerc crashes
With spots of rain falling, a red flag was thrown with 7:07 left as Charles Leclerc carried too much speed into turn 15.
Before that appeared, Carlos Sainz clocked a 1:41.595, going almost a second faster than Lawson. Hadjar was the only other driver to do a time at that stage. The Spanaird was on mediums, with the Racing Bulls on softs.
More drama as Oscar Piastri finds the barriers
Down at turn 3, Oscar Piastri carried too much speed, locked the left front and met the barriers. Nobody could get a time in once again as a sixth red flag appeared, leaving Verstappen, Norris, Piastri, Russell, Antonelli, Leclerc and Tsunoda as the no time order behind the top 3. The Aussie and Monegasque were done no matter what from here.
Verstappen strikes at the death
As Lando Norris made a big error at turn 15 on used tyres to only end up 7th, Max Verstappen smashed in a 1:41.117 to take pole position by 0.478s from Carlos Sainz. A late, great lap from Lawson put him P3, 0.010s quicker than Antonelli.
Russell, Antonelli, Tsunoda, Norris and Hadjar completed the order of the drivers who got a time in. Piastri and Leclerc start on row five.
