2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix | Qualifying Report

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Qualifying Report

Despite Ferrari's pace, Pérez's street-racing skills prove decisive in qualifying.

Sergio

Pérez

was

back

his

street-fighting

best

Baku

roared

fourth

place

the

grid

for

the

Azerbaijan

Grand

Prix

tight,

hotly

contested

qualifying

session

that

saw

Charles

Leclerc

take

pole

for

Ferrari,

but

which

left

Max

Verstappen

sixth

place

the

end.

Throughout the sessions the Bulls see-sawed up and down the order, with Max struggling in Q1 before topping the order in Q2 and with Checo looking quick but ultimately being pipped in the final runs across the first two sessions.

However, in the top 10 shootout, Checo's skill on a circuit on which he’s taken two wins and five podiums in total, shone through and although Ferrari proved to be this weekend’s quickest package, Checo put in a potent final flyer to claim P4.

Through The Lens: Qualifying at Baku

Game Face Max

Afternoon Delight

The City Walls

Early Evening

Checo Buckled In

Pit Stop

Speeding Through

Qualifying Complete

FP3

Max and Checo were straight out on track at the start of the final hour or practice. However, after a single exploratory lap on Softs, both returned to the garage as a reticent opening quarter of the session saw no times set. Then, just as a group of drivers emerged to begin their opening runs, Esteban Ocon’s Alpine ground to a halt between Turns 17 and 18 and the red flags came out.

After a 10-minute delay the session resumed. Max and Checo were straight out on track, and with C5 compound Soft tyres on board the Bulls moved to the top of the order, with Max in P1 on 1:45.209 and Checo in P3 just over a tenth off the champion.

As better times flooded in both went for a second attempt, but their runs were halted when Haas rookie Oliver Bearman, in for the suspended Kevin Magnussen, crashed at Turn 1 and the red flags were waved for a second time.

The session resumed after a six-minute delay and with no further interruptions, the P1 time steadily dropped. Lando Norris, Alex Albon, Checo and Oscar Piastri all took turns at the top but with seven minutes remaining Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc went look to have done enough to seal P1 with a lap of 1:42.564, but in the final moments Mercedes’ George Russell took the bragging rights with a lap of 1:42.514.

Max, meanwhile, ended the session in P5, just three tenths off Russell, with Checo in P7, 0.162 off his team-mate and five hundredths behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

The Bulls were out on track early at the start of Q1, with Max ahead of Checo, and it was Checo who set the pace, with the Mexican taking top spot with a lap of 1:43.436, just over two tenths clear of Max.

The Bulls were then split by Leclerc, who went 0.049 quicker than Max, with Piastri slotting into fourth place ahead of McLaren team-mate Norris.

Checo went straight into a second run and an improved time of 1:43.436 returned him to the top of the order ahead of Sainz whose second run netted him a time of 1:42.517. Max, meanwhile, was reporting that his car “was jumping all over the place on the rear axle and after failing to improve on his second run, the champion headed back to the garage as he slipped to fifth place.

Checo, though, was content to carry on and a third flying lap saw him gain even more time as he lowered the benchmark to 1:43.213, thanks to a purple middle sector. With five minutes left, Leclerc moved well clear, posting a 1:42.775 to eclipse Checo by more than four tenths of a second. Russell also put in a good time to leave Checo in third as the final runs approached.

Checo opted to sit out the late flyers, but Max, languishing in 10th, needed a final run and when he crossed the line his 1:43.097 proved good enough for sixth place as the final order shook out. Checo, meanwhile, eased through to Q2 in P10.

At the top of the Q1 order Leclerc’s mid-session 1:42.775 allowed him to keep hold of P1 ahead of Albon and Piastri, but in a shock end to the session, there was no place in the second session for the Australian’s McLaren team-mate Lando Norris. The Briton’s final flyer appeared to be hampered by yellow flags and he slid out of the session in P17.

The Bulls were again on track early at the start of the second session and they once again vaulted to the top of the order with Max’s 1:42.042 putting him in P1, 0.221s ahead of Checo. Piastri slotted into third place, half a second off Max, with Russell fourth.

Ferrari sent its drivers out on used Softs for uncompetitive first runs and when they emerged early for their next runs on new rubber, Leclerc managed to split the Bulls, 0.014s off Max, while Sainz slotted into fourth 0.2s behind Checo.

And the top three held firm through the final runs. First, Checo opted to sit out the final flurry and when Leclerc missed out on a tow from Sainz and backed out of his attempt, Max also abandoned his final flyer and went through to Q3 in top spot thanks to his first run time.

At the other end of the order, Haas’ Oliver Bearman dropped out in P11 ahead of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, the second Haas of Nico Hülkenberg, Aston Martin’s Lace Stroll and the second RB of Daniel Ricciardo.

In the first runs of the top 10 shootout, Leclerc put Ferrari on provisional pole, with the Ferrari driver posting a lap of 1:41.610 to take top spot, two tenths of a second ahead of Sainz, with Piastri third ahead of Russell.

The Bulls, meanwhile, slotted in behind, with Checo in P5 thanks to an opening lap of 1:42.045 and Max two tenths off his team-mate in sixth after suffering a slide late in his lap.

At the start of the final runs, there was a bizarre moment when Albon left the Williams garage with the airbox fan still in place. The Thai driver was forced to pull over at the pit exit before manually dragging the fan out and throwing it overboard. The delay would lead to an investigation for unsafe release and prevented him from crossing the line to start a final flyer.

Ahead of him, there was no stopping Leclerc. The Ferrari driver proved unbeatable in the final flyers, claiming a fourth straight Baku pole with a lap of 1:41.365, three tenths ahead of Piastri and almost half a second ahead of third-place Sainz.

For the Bulls, last on track at the end, there was no way to challenge the pole time. Max crossed the line ahead of Checo and rose to P5, but Checo, F1’s most successful driver around Baku, went quickest in Sector 1 to haul himself to fourth of the grid, ahead of Russell.

Max, therefore, will start tomorrow’s race from sixth on the grid, alongside Hamilton and ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, the impressive Franco Colapinto of Williams and the unfortunate Albon.