Qualifying facts and stats: A red flag record in Baku

The most incident-packed qualifying session since 2016 leads to Charles Leclerc's second pole position of the season, Lewis Hamilton qualifying second and Max Verstappen third. We look at the most interesting statistics from an incredible day at Baku.

• Qualifying for the 2021 Azerbaijan GP sees four red flags. The last time this occurred was in qualifying for the 2016 Hungarian GP

• Leclerc takes back-to-back pole positions, after Ferrari had no top-three starts since 2019

HIGHLIGHTS: All the action from Azerbaijan GP qualifying as Leclerc takes pole and five drivers crash

• Mercedes’ Hamilton starts second in Baku for the third-consecutive Azerbaijan GP

• With P3, Red Bull’s championship leader Verstappen starts in the top-three for the first time in Baku

• Carlos Sainz crashes out having taken P5 on the grid for Ferrari

• Sixth-place would be McLaren’s best-ever start in Baku but Lando Norris starts P9 after a three-place grid penalty for a red flag violation, promoting Sergio Perez, Yuki Tsunoda and Fernando Alonso

READ MORE: Norris handed three-place grid drop for red flag offence in qualifying

• Red Bull’s Perez qualifies P7, the same position from which he finished on the podium in the 2016 race. But he will now start P6

• Tsunoda’s crash at the end of Q3 sours his first Q3 appearance in F1, but the AlphaTauri rookie qualifies eighth, with a provisional slot of seventh on the grid

• Alonso out-qualifies Alpine team mate Esteban Ocon for the first time since the season-opener in Bahrain, with his first Q3 appearance in Baku

READ MORE: Alonso blasts rivals for driving 'over their abilities' – and says it's unfair drivers who crash keep grid places

• Mercedes driver Bottas, P10, has his lowest start since Abu Dhabi 2019, where he started last due to a power unit change. Daniel Ricciardo won here from P10 in 2017, however…

• Ricciardo is out in Q2 for the second-straight race in 2021 and the second-straight appearance in Baku

• Williams racer George Russell maintains his record of reaching Q2 at every race in 2021, and out-qualifying team mate Nicholas Latifi (P16)

READ MORE: ‘It was night and day’ – Hamilton reveals key tweak that got Mercedes ‘back in the game’ in Baku quali

• Nikita Mazepin (P18) has not got within 0.584s of Haas team mate Mick Schumacher (P18) in Q1 this year (when the two have run in qualifying) but the Russian qualifies just 0.080s behind Schumacher today

• Lance Stroll is out in Azerbaijan Q1 for his second-consecutive appearance. The Aston Martin driver is eliminated in Q1 for the second time this season

• Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi was seventh-fastest in FP2, reached Q3 here in 2019 and won both GP2 races here in 2016 – but starts on the back row after crashing moments after Stroll on Saturday

WATCH: Giovinazzi crashes in Baku qualifying, just moments after red flag for identical Stroll shunt