F1 Azerbaijan GP Qualifying: Charles Leclerc takes pole with flying lap
11th June 2022Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured a blisteringly hot lap to secure pole position ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.
How qualifying unfolded…
Q1
As the clock ticked down to the start of Q1, after a 15 minute delay due to the earlier F2 crash, McLaren’s Lando Norris headed the large queue out onto the track. Naturally, the young Briton was the first driver to set the benchmark for the remaining 19 drivers to target with a lap time of 1:45.061.
However, this time was quickly beaten by Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly, McLaren’s Daneil Ricciardo and both Alpines of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon.
It wasn’t long before these times were also beaten by the front runners as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped the timing board with a 1:42.938, ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who were P2 and P3 respectively.
With four minutes left on the clock, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was seen in the Tecpro barrier at turn seven after he locked up his front left tyre as he tried to make it around the sharp right-hand corner. Fortunately, the Canadian was able to continue on and make his way back to the pit lane.
But, Stroll didn’t return to the pit lane and tried to continue on to set a better lap time. Unfortunately, as the #18 Aston Martin driver ventured around turn two, his car struggled to turn around the corner and he smacked the barrier. The contact separated the Aston’s front wing and ripped the front-right tyre from its suspension.
The session was quickly red flagged, as a result.
After race control informed the teams when the session would restart, and with 2:30 left on the clock, the queue quickly formed with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton at the head. Despite the tight gap, all 13 cars which went out on track for the final runs managed to pass the line before the chequered flag was brought out.
Eliminated:
20. Mick Schumacher, Haas
19. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
18. Nicholas Latifi, Williams
17. Alexander Albon, Williams
16. Kevin Magnussen, Haas
Q2
When the light went green, at the exit of the pit lane, Perez became the first driver to venture out on the track ahead of his teammate, Verstappen. Naturally, the Mexican driver was the first to set a lap time in Q2 with a 1:42.258. But, this time was soon beaten by Verstappen who pipped his teammate by three-hundredths of a second.
Both Ferrari’s soon beaten the Red Bull times as Carlos Sainz went to the top of the timing board with a 1:42.088, 0.073 seconds quicker than his teammate Charles Leclerc.
As the only Aston Martin left out, Sebastian Vettel tried to turn down the 15th corner but his car failed to turn and nose-dived into the barrier. Fortunately, the German world champion was able to get out of the barrier and continue his way back to the pit lane for a quick inspection.
Hamilton was noted by the stewards for allegedly ‘driving unnecessaryily slowly,’ this was then upgraded to an investigation which would be conducted after the session.
Eliminated:
15. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
14. Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo
13. Esteban Ocon, Alpine
12. Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
11. Lando Norris, McLaren
Q3
Alonso was the first driver in the queue at the pit exit line as the Spaniard waited for the pit exit light to go green, to signal the start of Q3. Once the Spaniard crossed the line, he was quickly beaten by Gasly who secured a quick 1:42.845 lap.
Out of the front runners, Sainz took provisional pole with an incredibly quick 1:41.814, 0.047 seconds quicker than Leclerc and more than a tenth over both Red Bull drivers.
After the first set of runs, Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda lined up 10th behind Alonso (P9), Hamilton (P8), Vettel (P7), Mercedes’ George Russell (P6) and Gasly (P5).
As the field returned to the track, Verstappen soon came over the radio and asked why he was out in the lead, ahead of Perez. However, it was soon relayed back to the Dutch world champion his teammates car wasn’t refuelled in time.
In the final set of runs, Leclerc smashed a blistering final lap as the Monegasque pipped his Spanish teammate by 0.455 seconds to pole position. Verstappen looked to have a front row start, alongside Leclerc, but this dream was soon dashed by Perez who jumped up to P2.
Top 10:
10. Fernando Alonso, Alpine
9. Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin
8. Yuki Tsunoda, Alpha Tauri
7. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
6. Pierre Gasly, Alpha Tauri
5. George Russell, Mercedes
4. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
3. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2. Sergio Perez, Red Bull
1. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
That’s it for the article: F1 Azerbaijan GP Qualifying: Charles Leclerc takes pole with flying lap! With the grid set for Sunday’s Grand Prix, who do you think will win? Let us know in the comments!
Read more Formula One here!
- F1 Azerbaijan GP: Sergio Perez on top in final practice
- F1 Azerbaijan GP: Charles Leclerc stands on top in FP2
- F1 Azerbaijan GP: Sergio Perez tops first practice in Baku
- F1 Azerbaijan GP Preview
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