Verstappen takes pole in a dramatic and chaotic qualifying on the streets of Azerbaijan
- Charlotte Mui
- Sep 20
- 4 min read
Written by Charlotte Mui
After a two-hour long qualifying session that saw six red flags, Max Verstappen claimed a second consecutive pole position. He will start ahead of Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson, who produced brilliant performances to be in second and third position. Championship leader Oscar Piastri could only manage ninth after crashing, while his McLaren teammate and championship rival Lando Norris will start seventh.
Qualifying 1:
Q1 got underway at 13:00 BST on the streets of Baku. Charles Leclerc went fastest in the early moments; despite not yet taking a pole this season, the Monegasque remained a favourite, having started first at this circuit the past four years in a row.
Just a few minutes into the session, Alex Albon hit the barriers at Turn 1, bringing an early end to his qualifying. This was a disappointing end to his session, especially given that Williams had been looking strong all weekend.
Moments later, the red flag was brought back out as Nico Hülkenberg hit the barrier at Turn 4. Luckily, he was able to bring the car back into the garage and rejoin for the remainder of the session.
Track evolution was high, with drivers setting increasingly quicker times as the session went on. With two minutes to go, Norris went fastest, having put on a brand new set of soft tyres.
Both Saubers were in the drop zone in the dying minutes of qualifying. Gabriel Bortoleto was able to improve up to eleventh, continuing his impressive qualifying form relative to his teammate.
Fernando Alonso also escaped elimination in the final few seconds, as he put in a strong lap to go up to ninth .
The red flag was then brought out for a third time due to Franco Colapinto crashing late on.
Q1 eliminations:
16. Franco Colapinto
17. Nico Hülkenberg
18. Esteban Ocon
19. Pierre Gasly
20. Alex Albon
Qualifying 2:
After a brief delay to the start of Q2 due to barriers being repaired, Carlos Sainz led the cars out for the next phase of qualifying.
Almost as soon as it started, there was another pause in the session as the red flag came out for Ollie Bearman, who clipped the wall out of Turn 2. The contact was enough to damage the car suspension, meaning both Haas drivers were now out of qualifying.
Trouble came for Ferrari in the remaining 10 minutes, as Leclerc misjudged a corner and went into the run-off, causing teammate Lewis Hamilton to also abort his lap behind.
Norris continued to lead the field with a time of 1:41.396. The two Mercedes were also looking quick, both cars within a tenth and a half behind him.
Having bolted on a new set of medium tyres, Verstappen set a 1:41.446. Meanwhile, Leclerc had yet to set a time, leaving him down in 14th. He eventually set a lap good enough for fourth, but consequently pushed his teammate down to 12th.
In the final moments, Yuki Tsunoda improved up to tenth place. Lewis Hamilton was ultimately unable to set another lap, failing to make Q3 for the fifth time this year.
Q2 eliminations:
11. Fernando Alonso
12. Lewis Hamilton
13. Gabriel Bortoleto
14. Lance Stroll
15. Ollie Bearman
Qualifying 3:
As Q3 began, drops of rain descended onto the track, handing a huge advantage to those setting a flying lap first.
Carlos Sainz went quickest with a 1:41.595, before Leclerc went into the barriers at Turn 15, bringing out the red flag for the fifth time. A regrettable result for a driver who’s been on pole at this circuit for four consecutive years, and an overall discouraging qualifying for the Scuderia.
When the session resumed, Verstappen and Norris looked to be setting fast times, but their laps were interrupted when Piastri hit the wall, bringing out the red flag for the sixth time. The incident left the Australian down in ninth, his worst starting position of the 2025 season.
With the grip on track extremely unpredictable, drivers were struggling to estimate how much they could risk in each corner. It would take a miraculous lap to displace Sainz’s early time.
Eyes now turned to Norris to see if he could capitalise on his teammate’s mistake. However, with the track surface still damp in certain braking zones, he was unable to string together a clean lap.
Lawson, on the other hand, drove an extremely impressive lap to put him second on the timing sheets, only about a tenth behind Sainz.
In the final seconds of qualifying, Verstappen once again proved his skill in tricky conditions, finding grip where no one else was and going nearly half a second quicker than Sainz. The Dutchman snatched pole from the Williams driver and will be looking to win a second Grand Prix in a row.
Sunday’s starting grid:
Max Verstappen
Carlos Sainz
Liam Lawson
Kimi Antonelli
George Russell
Yuki Tsunoda
Lando Norris
Isack Hadjar
Oscar Piastri
Charles Leclerc
Fernando Alonso
Lewis Hamilton
Gabriel Bortoleto
Lance Stroll
Ollie Bearman
Franco Colapinto
Nico Hülkenberg
Esteban Ocon
Pierre Gasly
Alex Albon
Looking ahead:
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix will be underway tomorrow at 12:00 BST. The race looks to be an interesting one, with slower cars starting up front, and quicker cars looming behind. The streets of Baku always promise chaos, and the grid is poised for an eventful race.
Comments