Verstappen beats Sainz to pole in chaotic, crash-filled Baku F1 qualifying
Formula 1

Verstappen beats Sainz to pole in chaotic, crash-filled Baku F1 qualifying

by Jack Benyon
4 min read

Max Verstappen took pole position in a ridiculous Formula 1 qualifying session for the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix that last almost two hours and featured six red flags.

Six crashes, including for F1 championship leader Oscar Piastri and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, which ended Leclerc's four-pole streak on the Baku street circuit.

Q3 was almost immediately halted as rain - admittedly very light rain - hit, and Leclerc carried too much speed into Turn 15, burying his car in the barriers at a corner he’s crashed at twice in previous years.

Only four times were set before the Leclerc crash as Carlos Sainz went fastest for Williams, telling his crew "you can start dancing to see if it rains a bit harder, no?”.

But that heavier rain didn’t arrive, condemning fans to a more ‘normal’ competitive order than Sainz leading Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar.

No one set a proper lap time before the next red flag, as Piastri carried way too much speed into Turn 3 and went straight into the wall. He immediately banged the steering wheel in frustration.

The clock ticked from 7m07s after the Leclerc red flag to 3m41s with the Piastri one, setting up a final-lap showdown.

Cameras ran onboard with pole favourite Norris as he got very sideways at Turn 6 and then brushed the wall relatively hard at Turn 15, taking him out of the pole fight and he’ll only start seventh, two spots ahead of Piastri.

Verstappen was nearly half second quicker than Sainz’s earlier benchmark with his own late flier, using softs rather than the medium tyres he favoured and which Sainz used for what turned out to be a lap good enough to put Williams on the front row of the grid.

Liam Lawson delivered a stunning late lap for Racing Bulls to go third, ahead of a Mercedes duo led this time by rookie Kimi Antonelli, who had a typically rollercoaster session almost not making it out of Q1, but delivered when the pressure was on.

George Russell took fifth, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda - who was over a second slower than Verstappen but quick enough to beat a scruffy Norris into the top six.

Isack Hadjar claimed eighth on the grid, while Piastri will start ninth ahead of Leclerc as the fifth row of the grid is claimed by drivers who failed to set a time in Q3.

Hamilton fails to make Q3 again

Despite the promise shown in FP2 when he was fastest, Lewis Hamilton couldn’t put a lap together late in Q2 and was only 12th fastest - missing Q3 for a fifth time this season.

A red flag after Ollie Bearman broke his Haas against a wall interrupted the early Q2 warm-up laps, and then Hamilton had to bail on his first flier as team-mate Leclerc went off in front of him at Turn 1 bringing out a yellow flag.

Leclerc then had another lap deleted for track limits at Turn 3 but was then able to go fourth fastest, while Hamilton’s final flier lacked a personal best in the first sector and though it improved his lap time, it left him 10th and vulnerable.

Fernando Alonso improved to beat Hamilton to what turned out to be 11th on the grid, with Gabriel Bortoleto, Lance Stroll and Bearman completing the Q2 exits.

Four drivers crash in Q1

Alex Albon was the big loser in Q1 as he remarkably hit the inside wall at Turn 1 on his second push lap in an extremely costly retirement for the Williams driver, with his team-mate Sainz ending up on the front row.

In fact, four of the five drivers who dropped out in Q1 crashed or had issues in a messy session.

Franco Colapinto was 10th before the penultimate red flag of the session caused by Nico Hulkenberg crashing and destroying his front wing, but failed to make Q2 after crashing into the barrier at Turn 4 right at the end.

Shockingly for Alpine it lost two cars at that same corner, with Colapinto's crash coming shortly after Pierre Gasly had missed the corner and become stuck in the escape road.

That meant Colapinto, Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon’s Haas (suffering from braking problems), Gasly and Albon all went out in the first segment.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • More Networks