Leclerc beats Piastri to pole in Azerbaijan as Norris suffers shock Q1 exit

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc made it four successive pole positions at the Baku City Circuit by beating Oscar Piastri to the top spot during Saturday’s qualifying session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, while there was drama for the other McLaren of Lando Norris in the form of a Q1 elimination.

Leclerc produced a blistering lap of 1m 41.365s to finish some three-tenths clear of Piastri in the final Q3 phase, adding to his 2021, 2022 and 2023 poles at the venue, with team mate Carlos Sainz rounding out the top three positions.

Red Bull showed flashes of pace throughout qualifying but ultimately had to settle for fourth and sixth, with two-time Azerbaijan winner Sergio Perez getting the better of Max Verstappen, while George Russell put his Mercedes in fifth.

Lewis Hamilton seemingly faced a battle to get his tyres up to temperature en route to seventh place, as Fernando Alonso took eighth for Aston Martin and Williams drivers Franco Colapinto and Alex Albon completed the Q3 order.

In what was an otherwise excellent day for Williams, and especially high-flying rookie Colapinto, Albon’s efforts were hindered when the Thai-British driver was sent out for his final lap with an airbox fan still attached.

While Albon stopped on track, managed to release the fan and throw it to the waiting marshals, the time he lost in doing so meant he could not get another lap in – with stewards set to investigate the incident post-session.

Ollie Bearman just missed out on a spot in the pole position shootout, having finished a tenth down on Albon in Q2, prompting a frustrated radio message from the Briton on his return to the pits despite out-qualifying experienced Haas team mate Nico Hulkenberg.

RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly had to settle for respective P12 and P13 places, the former being hit with a fine for speeding in the pit lane, while Hulkenberg and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll were the slowest of the runners in the second qualifying segment.

It was a disastrous session for title challenger Norris, who will start in 17th position – just behind RB driver and former team mate Daniel Ricciardo – after his Q1 elimination, having run wildly over the kerbs and encountered a slow-moving Esteban Ocon in the final sector.

Kick Sauber pair Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu placed 18th and 19th respectively, the latter facing a back-of-the-grid start in any case, while the aforementioned Ocon wound up 20th after his Alpine slowed once again in the closing stages of the opening phase.

AS IT HAPPENED

Q1 – Leclerc fastest as Norris dramatically drops out

After a close final practice session on a slippery Baku City Circuit, there was plenty of excitement in the paddock in the build-up to qualifying, with many insiders feeling that Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull were all capable of claiming pole position.

One change to the grid announced between sessions involved Zhou, thanks to him exceeding the season allowance of multiple power unit components, while Leclerc breathed a sigh of relief when his alleged yellow flag breach in FP3 only led to a reprimand.

With most drivers opting for soft tyres from the outset in Q1 – the trend being broken by Mercedes burning a set of mediums – it was Perez who set the early pace on a 1m 43.436s, putting him just ahead of Sainz, Leclerc, Verstappen, Piastri and Norris.

Williams rookie Colapinto then raised eyebrows by splitting the Ferrari drivers, having pumped in a lap just a tenth slower than pace-setter Perez, while at the other end of the timesheets both Kick Saubers, both Alpines and Ricciardo’s RB were in trouble.

As drivers pushed harder and harder on an ever-improving track, replays showed Colapinto brushing the wall, Bearman coming perilously close to doing the same as he built up confidence again after his FP3 shunt and Sainz taking to an escape road.

Leclerc then made a statement by clocking a 1m 42.775s on his next lap, a whopping 0.364s quicker than nearest rival Russell, with Perez holding third from Hamilton and Sainz, and Stroll being bumped into the drop zone thanks to an improvement from Gasly.

After tyre changes in the pits (the provisional top three being the only drivers to stay put), a frenetic final sequence ended with Leclerc still in P1, from Albon, Piastri, Gasly, Hamilton and Verstappen, as Hulkenberg, Colapinto, Russell and Perez completed the top 10.

But there would be huge drama behind, with championship challenger Norris failing to make it out of Q1 amid a moment in the final sector, yellow flags for a slowing Ocon and an out-of-context radio apology from his race engineer, meaning he will start Sunday’s race down in 17th place.

Tsunoda, Sainz, Stroll, Bearman and Alonso all did enough to progress, leaving Ricciardo, the Saubers of Bottas and Zhou, and Ocon – who suffered yet more problems behind the wheel of his Alpine and trundled around late on – in the drop zone alongside Norris.

Knocked out: Ricciardo, Norris, Bottas, Zhou, Ocon

Q2 – Verstappen heads Leclerc ahead of pole shootout

When the remaining 15 drivers returned to the track for the start of Q2, Verstappen and Perez moved up a gear to form a provisional Red Bull one-two – the Dutchman posting a 1m 42.042s – as Piastri slotted into third from Russell, Bearman and Sainz.

Albon, Hamilton, Leclerc and Hulkenberg held the final top 10 spots at this point, in turn leaving Colapinto, Alonso, Gasly, Tsunoda and Stroll with work to do on the final, decisive runs, which would bring another heap of purple and green sector times.

Ferrari went slightly out-of-sync with their run plans at this point, enabling Leclerc to go second and Sainz fourth on a clear track, while Perez was the only driver to sit in his garage and watch the rest of the action as the minutes ticked by and the chequered flag came out.

There were no further improvements at the sharp end on the final laps, with Verstappen remaining in P1 over Leclerc and Perez, followed by Russell, Alonso and an inspired Colapinto, who brilliantly secured safe passage to the pole position shootout in only his second weekend.

Sainz, Piastri, Hamilton and the other Williams of Albon also made it through, denying Bearman, who described himself as “an idiot” over the radio after an apparent mistake, the RB of Tsunoda, the Alpine of Gasly, the other Haas of Hulkenberg and Stroll’s Aston Martin.

Knocked out: Bearman, Tsunoda, Gasly, Hulkenberg, Stroll

Q3 – Leclerc adds to his Baku tally as Albon hits trouble

Attention then turned to the pole position shootout, with Leclerc producing the lap to beat during the first runs via a 1m 41.610s, a couple of tenths quicker than Sainz, as Piastri moved into third from Russell, Perez and Verstappen, who lost time with a slide in the final sector.

Hamilton was some six-tenths off the pace, the seven-time world champion radioing that we need to “get those temperatures up”, with Albon, Colapinto and Alonso completing the provisional Q3 order – but there would be drama to follow in the Williams camp.

As cars filtered out again, Albon was bizarrely released from the garage with an airbox fan still attached to his car, forcing him to stop at the side of the track and then throw it to the marshals before attempting to make it to the start/finish line in time for another lap.

One more flat-out sequence saw Leclerc improve to a 1m 41.365s, three-tenths faster than closest challenger Piastri, who held a wobble out of Turn 15 on his final lap, while Sainz fended off Perez, Russell and Verstappen to back his team mate up in third.

Hamilton and Alonso followed in P7 and P8, with Colapinto seeing out a superb session in ninth and Albon taking 10th after the fan-related delays meant he was beaten to the line by the chequered flag dropping.

Key quote

“The pace was always there and then in qualifying and Q3 it was all about trying to stay as far as possible off the walls,” said pole-sitter Leclerc.

“In that last lap I went for it a bit more and the lap time came very nicely. The car felt really good and everything felt great so it’s amazing to be on pole.”

What’s next

The 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix is set to begin at 1500 local time on Sunday. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can catch the action from Baku.