Leclerc fastest in Friday's Qualifying surprising Verstappen and Red Bull
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Charles Leclerc finished fastest in Friday's qualifying session in Baku, which might have been the hardest session of the season yet, given the lack of time for practice and the challenging track. Alongside him, Max Verstappen guided his Red Bull to the front row for Sunday’s Grand Prix, with Sergio Perez finishing P3.
After the first set of lap times, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc set exactly the same time, which also beat Bottas' former track record, with Sergio Perez also still having a chance to jump to the top of the leaderboard at the half-way point of Q3. Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the Top 5, while the Aston Martins continued to have issues with their rear wings.
During the driver's final shot for claiming pole for the Grand Prix, Leclerc was the first one out, and he jumped Verstappen by just over a tenth of a second, driving on the edge. Verstappen finished second, and the Top 5 remained unchanged, as Alonso was unable to overtake Hamilton.
Q2
The second part of qualifying finished with no collisions, only a struggling Sainz found the escape road in Turn 3, shocking his side of the garage. The upper half of the field was practising for Q3, while Mercedes was not on fine form, leading to George Russell’s early exit. He was only +0.004 seconds behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who finished in P10.
Both McLarens qualified for the final stage after their underwhelming start to the season, along with Yuki Tsunoda, Hamilton and the drivers from the top three teams.
OUT - P15 Sargeant, P14 Bottas, P13 Albon, P12 Ocon, P11 Russell
Q1
The drivers were all eager to get out on track, as they only had FP1 to properly set the cars up and get some laps in. Zhou Guanyu was the first driver to spin out in Turn 1, but he had no collision with the wall. Moments later, Nyck de Vries triggered the red flag after he ended up in the wall in Turn 3, which might have happened due to a break pressure failure.
After a lengthy reorganisation of wall in Turn 3, Pierre Gasly hit the same wall as De Vries, leading to a second red flag, and Sainz spun just like Zhou. Moreover, Kevin Magnussen was unable to continue to session as he was instructed to return to the pits with mechanical issues. Alongside the three drivers who were unable to finish Q1, Nico Hülkenberg and Zhou were knocked out.
OUT - P20 De Vries, P19 Gasly, P18 Magnussen, P17 Hülkenberg, P16 Zhou