© Getty ImagesMax And Checo Denied Final Flyers In Baku QualiBulls to start P3 and P7 for tomorrow's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Max was forced to settle for third behind Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, while Checo qualified in seventh.
Sergio Exits The Castle Section© Getty Images
Q1 started with a long queue in the pit lane due to the strong possibility of the session being interrupted by yellow and red flags, so drivers sought to get in an early banker. And it took just over three minutes for that first interruption to arrive.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll lost control at turn 15 and hit the barriers hard on the outside of the corner, dislodging his front right wheel. The red flags were swiftly displayed and the rest of the field returned to the pit lane.
The session resumed after a 12-minute delay and the Bulls were swiftly back out with the Dutchman marginally ahead of the Mexican on track.
Bulls Heading Out On Track© Getty Images
And Max promptly jumped to first clocking in a lap of 1:41.760, with Sergio slotting into second place a little under three tenths off his teammate who was quicker through the middle sector.
The session was then red-flagged for a second time when turn 15 claimed another victim. This time it was Antonio Giovinazzi who outbraked himself before taking an even sharper impact angle than Stroll.
After a 10-minute delay the session resumed for a second time and this time there were no further interruptions and that allowed Hamilton to climb the leaderboard. The Mercedes driver first jumped to fourth place and then, aided by a good tow from the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda, he claimed first with a lap of 1:41.545 ahead of Max and Sergio.
At the other end of the order, Nicholas Latifi was eliminated in P16 ahead of the Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, while Stroll and Giovinazzi exited via the barriers.
Sergio Gets Set For The Street© Getty Images
In Q2 the Bulls were to the fore with Sergio taking first early on thanks to a lap time of 1:41.630. Max’s first lap wasn’t as good and his 1:41.769 put him third behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. That became fourth as Charles Leclerc stole into second place. Hamilton, though, was going well and when he crossed the line, he moved ahead of Leclerc to take second.
Max, however, was on another flyer and this time he did jump to first, posting a lap of 1:41.625. Just nine-thousandths of a second now covered the top three.
And that’s how the order at the top would stay. In the final runs of the segment Daniel Ricciardo crashed at turn three and the red flags were shown once again. With just over a minute left in the session race control quickly indicated that the session would not be restarted.
The Team Watch On© Getty Images
Most affected by the red flag was Sebastian Vettel. The Aston Martin driver was unable to complete his lap and having dropped down the order the German was eliminated in P11, with his earlier lap just over two-hundredths off the P10 time of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso.
Also eliminated ahead of the top-10 shootout were Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in P12, Ricciardo in P13, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen and Williams’ George Russell.
In the opening runs of Q3 neither Max nor Sergio found the space, or crucially, a perfect tow on the long final straight and after the first runs Leclerc held provisional pole two tenths of a second ahead of Hamilton and with Max a further tenth back.
A final assault remained, however, and the Bulls went out for the final runs at the rear of the field, looking to secure a tow from the cars ahead.
However, as they wound up to start their final flying laps, their hopes were dashed. Ahead, Tsunoda locked up on entry to turn three and hit the barriers. Close behind the Japanese driver was Sainz. Seeing the incident, the Spanish driver hit the brakes but he too locked up and hit the barrier just behind Tsunoda before bouncing along the wall of the escape road.
The red flags were immediately waved and the session ended with Leclerc on pole in similar circumstances to his Monaco qualifying, though this time with his teammate bringing running to a halt.
Hamilton snuck through to claim second place ahead of Max, while Pierre Gasly claimed fourth for AlphaTauri ahead of the unfortunate Sainz and Lando Norris.
Sergio was left with seventh, but with Norris facing investigation for a potential red flag procedure violation earlier in the session and Sainz’s Ferrari looking badly damaged at the rear, he may yet start higher.
Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2021: Qualifying
Sending It On The Streets© Getty Images
Dou-Bull Vision At The Castle© Getty Images
Ready To Charge Tomorrow© Getty Images
Watching An Action-Packed Quali From All Angles© Getty Images
Bulls Heading Out On Track© Getty Images
Max Congratulates Pole Man Leclerc© Getty Images
Back In For The Night© Getty Images
Climbing Out Of Quali P3© Getty Images
Sergio Gets Set For The Street© Getty Images
Getting Ready To Roll Out In Quali© Getty Images
Bulls Loose On The Streets© Getty Images
Up Close With The Walls© Getty Images
Heading Up The Hill© Getty Images
Passing The Castle On The Hill© Getty Images
“Of course I’m not that happy as I was very confident we could fight for pole here as we have felt good throughout the weekend but qualifying was pretty scrappy with all the red flags and the one at the end of Q3 stopped us all improving. It is what it is and it’s unfortunate but it’s a fast street circuit and these things can happen. Of course I would have liked to start further ahead but P3 isn’t so bad. We know we have a good car so it’s still all to play for and we can fight from there.
With three different teams at the front it should also be a pretty interesting race strategy wise as well and it is also about keeping your tyres alive.
"As you can see from qualifying a lot of things can happen around this circuit so let’s hope we can have a clean start and then put the pressure on. With three different teams at the front it should also be a pretty interesting race strategy wise as well and it is also about keeping your tyres alive. We are still up there so let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”
“Today was a big shame as we’ve shown all weekend we have very good pace but today we didn’t put the lap together when it really mattered. There was so much more on offer and we obviously expected more but it is what it is. On my first Q3 run I locked up into Turn 4 and then I was chasing the time for the rest of the lap. On my second run, I was on for a great lap and then the red flag came out for Yuki and Carlos and that was that. I don’t remember there being so many red flags in a session but tomorrow is when it counts and anything can happen around this track.
"I think there are lots of positives to be taken so far from this weekend, the pace every single session has been there and we’ve shown good progression so we can be pleased with that. Tomorrow is a long race and there is plenty to play for so we need to get our heads down and make sure we deliver. I think we have a very strong car underneath us so a podium has to be the target.”
“It was frustrating not to get that last run in Q3 as Max was improving and in with the chance of a tow at the end of the lap but that’s life and it was the same for everyone. Likewise for Sergio, he was banking on his second Q3 lap to show the pace he’s had here all weekend but we’re still in good shape starting P3 and P7.
Our car has been quick here this weekend and overtaking is possible at this track so it should make for an exciting Grand Prix and strategy will be key.
"Our car has been quick here this weekend and overtaking is possible at this track so it should make for an exciting Grand Prix and strategy will be key. It’s still all to play for and I’m sure Checo will make progress quickly in the race so that we’re able to make the most of the opportunities in front of us tomorrow.”
AzerbaijanGrandPrixQualifyingTop10
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Charles Leclerc | Lewis Hamilton | Max Verstappen | Pierre Gasly | Carlos Sainz | Lando Norris | Sergio Pérez | Yuki Tsunoda | Fernando Alonso | Valtteri Bottas |
| Ferrari | Mercedes | Red Bull Racing Honda | AlphaTauri | Ferrari | McLaren | Red Bull Racing Honda | AlphaTauri | Alpine | Mercedes |
| 1.41.218 | 1.41.450 | 1.41.563 | 1.41.565 | 1.41.576 | 1.41.747 | 1.41.917 | 1.42.211 | 1.42.327 | 1.42.659 |
