Verstappen takes pole in Baku: Chaos and accidents in F1

Verstappen Triumphs in a Chaotic Baku Qualifying

In a qualifying session marked by intensity and multiple red flags, Max Verstappen secured pole position at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, surpassing Carlos Sainz and frustrating Williams’ aspirations of obtaining a surprising first position. The championship leader, Oscar Piastri, suffered an accident and will start from ninth position, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who also crashed into the wall. Lando Norris, Piastri’s teammate, missed a golden opportunity by touching the wall on his last lap, settling for seventh place. Verstappen, demonstrating his world champion status, achieved an impeccable lap to beat Sainz by 0.4 seconds.

Honestly, today we nailed the qualifying. Every time with the right tire at the right time and doing some very strong laps.

Carlos Sainz

Had he achieved pole, it would have been the first for Williams since the 2014 Austrian Grand Prix. Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson secured third place, his best position of the season, followed by Mercedes teammates Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.

The dramatic session, which extended for 20 minutes more than the Azerbaijan Grand Prix of the previous year, took place hours after the circuit confirmed a new agreement with Formula 1 to host the race until 2030. The classification was affected by the changing track conditions and a light drizzle. Sainz benefited from being one of the first to go out on the track when the weather changed. With many of the favorites halfway through the track, Leclerc’s crash nullified the session. When the session resumed, Verstappen immediately demonstrated his speed, but he couldn’t improve his time due to a mistake by Piastri, which caused another red flag. Norris was close to touching the wall on several occasions. He finished a second behind Verstappen’s time.

It was a long qualifying with so many red flags.

Max Verstappen

Ferrari arrived at the day with high hopes of challenging for pole position, but their session fell apart. Leclerc’s accident came after his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, was eliminated in Q2. Oliver Bearman and Franco Colapinto also caused red flags. Albon, Sainz’s teammate, grazed the wall, which triggered the first red flag of the day and will start in 20th position, at the opposite end of his teammate.