Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) won his second consecutive pole position in Formula 1, after Monaco two weeks ago, at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday, after qualifying with accidents.
The Briton Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), in bad shape so far in the streets of Baku, managed to place himself at his side on the front line.
The second goes to the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), leader of the championship and frustrated favorite, and to the Frenchman Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri).
"This pole position does not have the taste it should have"
Charles Leclerc
The scenario of this pole surprisingly coincides with that of Monaco: Leclerc set the best time during his first attempt, then two crashes in the last seconds of the “qualifiers” prevented the pilots from improving their times, automatically offering him first place on the starting grid on Sunday. In the streets of the Principality, it was almost the same, except that it was the Ferrari driver himself who had crashed his car. This time it was the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) and the Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari), one after the other in a few seconds. "This pole position does not have the taste it should have", admits the Monegasque, but he will be satisfied because it is "unexpected" in view of the performance of the Scuderia compared to Red Bull and Mercedes thelast year and since the start of the season.
Sainz came out with the 5th fastest time in qualifying, ahead of Briton Lando Norris (McLaren), Mexican Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), Tsunoda, Spaniard Fernando Alonso (Alpine) and Finnish Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes).
It remains to be seen whether the casualties will have to change parts of their cars, which would incur grid penalties.
Earlier in the session, Australian Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren, 13th), Canadian Lance Stroll (Racing Point, unranked) and Italian Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo, unranked) also came into the barriers of security.
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