Sunny. Dry. Air +24C, route +37…32C
Qualification in Baku is always interesting. Realizing that yellow or red flags can appear at any moment, the riders attack from the first minutes, but for a good result, you need to avoid traffic and prepare tires, which is not always possible. So luck is also important.
In training, there were no serious accidents. On Friday, Charles Leclerc showed the best time, on Saturday morning Carlos Sainz led the protocol, but only the qualification put everything in its place.
Practice 3 was postponed by 15 minutes to replace the TecPro barriers in the first turn following the accident at the end of the Formula 2 race. According to the regulations, there must be at least two hours between the end of practice and qualifying, so qualifying was also postponed by 15 minutes. Mercedes was repairing underbody damage on both cars – and this pause helped them.
On fast laps, the racers traditionally for Baku actively used the slipstream on the straight, taking turns accelerating each other – or sitting behind the opponent.
In the first session riders worked in a series of laps, alternating fast and slow. Vettel drove into the safety pocket of the third turn – and continued to move.
In the first attempt, Leclerc set the fastest time, lapping in 1:42.865, but Verstappen changed tires and was faster – 1:42.722.
In the 14th minute, Stroll, following a braking error, poked lightly into the barrier in the seventh turn and went into the pits. A few seconds later, the session was stopped by red flags – Lance had another accident, crashing into the barrier already in the second turn. The wrecked car had to be towed away.
.jpg "Racers lined up in the pit lane in advance to have time to start a fast lap")
The pause lasted 10 minutes, then the fight continued. There were two and a half minutes left until the end of the session, the drivers lined up in the pit lane in advance in order to have time to start a fast lap, but the tires had cooled down. Verstappen, Pérez, Leclerc, Sainz, Vettel and Ocon abandoned the attempt.
In the last seconds, yellow flags appeared due to Alonso driving into the safety pocket. It seemed to Albon, who was following, that the Spaniard did it on purpose.
Verstappen’s time was the best, with Magnussen, Albon, Latifi, Stroll and Schumacher out of the fight.
In the second session many initially rode on rolled tires, leaving a fresh set for a second try. Only the Red Bull Racing drivers and Vettel immediately had fresh tires – saved in the first session. In the first attempt, Sainz showed the best time – 1:42.008. Leclair skidded a bit – and he lost the tenth, showing the second time.
Vettel, due to problems with the brakes, poked into a protective barrier – and went to the pits to check the car.
In the second attempt, first Perez led the scoresheet with 1:41.955, Leclerc slightly touched the barrier with the front left wheel and remained second. Verstappen touched the wall with a rear left and went to the pits to check.
From the further fight dropped out: Norris, Riccardo, Okon, Zhou and Bottas. Zhou was ahead of a teammate for the first time this season.
In the final Sainz marked a new benchmark – 1:41.814, Leclerc once more made a small mistake, attacking at the limit, lost five hundredths and remained second. Perez hooked the barrier with the front left wheel, but was ahead of Verstappen by the same five hundredths.
In the second attempt, Vettel returned to the pits, breaking the circle. Sainz didn’t improve and Leclerc led the scoresheet with 1:41.359. In the last seconds, Perez was ahead of his partner, showing the second time.
Charles Leclerc won the qualification in Baku, taking the sixth pole of the season and the 15th of his career. Leclerc and Perez will occupy the first row of the starting field, Verstappen and Sainz – the second, Russell and Gasly – the third.
The race will be interesting!
Qualification results
| Pilot | Team | 1 session | 2 sessions | 3 sessions | ||||||
| M | Time | Cr | M | Time | Cr | M | Time | Cr | ||
| 1. Sh.Lekler | Ferrari | 3 | 1:42.865 | 7 | 2 | 1:42.046 | 6 | 1 | 1:41.359 | 6 |
| 2. C.Perez | Red Bull | 2 | 1:42.733 | 6 | 1 | 1:41.955 | 6 | 2 | 1:41.641 | 6 |
| 3. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 1 | 1:42.722 | 7 | 4 | 1:42.227 | 6 | 3 | 1:41.706 | 6 |
| 4. K. Sainz | Ferrari | 4 | 1:42.957 | 7 | 3 | 1:42.088 | 6 | 4 | 1:41.814 | 6 |
| 5. D. Russell | Mercedes | 8 | 1:43.754 | 10 | 8 | 1:43.281 | 7 | 5 | 1:42.712 | 6 |
| 6. P.Gasley | AlphaTauri | 5 | 1:43.268 | 11 | 5 | 1:43.129 | 6 | 6 | 1:42.845 | 6 |
| 7. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 11 | 1:43.939 | 9 | 6 | 1:43.182 | 7 | 7 | 1:42.924 | 6 |
| 8. Yu. Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 7 | 1:43.595 | 10 | 10 | 1:43.376 | 6 | 8 | 1:43.056 | 6 |
| 9. S. Vettel | Aston Martin | 6 | 1:43.279 | 7 | 7 | 1:43.268 | 7 | 9 | 1:43.091 | 4 |
| 10. F. Alonso | Alpine | 12 | 1:44.083 | 8 | 9 | 1:43.360 | 6 | 10 | 1:43.173 | 6 |
| 11. L. Norris | McLaren | 13 | 1:44.237 | 9 | 11 | 1:43.398 | 7 | |||
| 12. D. Riccardo | McLaren | 14 | 1:44.437 | 9 | 12 | 1:43.574 | 8 | |||
| 13. E. Okon | Alpine | 10 | 1:43.903 | 7 | 13 | 1:43.585 | 6 | |||
| 14. Mr. Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 9 | 1:43.777 | 9 | 14 | 1:43.790 | 4 | |||
| 15. V. Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 15 | 1:44.478 | 9 | 15 | 1:44.444 | 4 | |||
| 16. K. Magnussen | Haas | 16 | 1:44.643 | 9 | ||||||
| 17. A. Elbon | Williams | 17 | 1:44.719 | 9 | ||||||
| 18. N. Latifi | Williams | 18 | 1:45.367 | 8 | ||||||
| 19. L.Stroll | Aston Martin | 19 | 1:45.371 | 7 | ||||||
| 20. M. Schumacher | Haas | 20 | 1:45.775 | 9 | ||||||
