Azerbaijan GP: Leclerc wins pole as Norris misses first cut!
09/14/2024 09:16 AM
Charles Leclerc took his fourth consecutive Azerbaijan Grand Prix pole position, with a convincing display in qualifying putting the Ferrari more than three tenths quicker than McLaren's Oscar Piastri.
Sainz proved that the scuderia was in fine form this weekend by taking third place putting him alongside Sergio Perez on tomorrow's grid, after the Mexican out-performed his team mate Max Verstappen in Q3.
It was an impressive session for Williams with Franco Colapinto and Alex Albon both in the top ten. But there was disaster for Lando Norris who had to back off due to yellow flags in Q1 and missed the first cut, leaving him P17 on the grid.
Heading into qualifying for Sunday's Azerbaijan GP, there had been three different names topping the practice sessions - Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, and George Russell in final practice - but this was barely the tip of the list of names in contention for pole position today. Things were made even more unpredictable by the tight, tricky nature of the Baku street circuit; after the sprinkling of rain in a cloudy FP3, drivers were encouraged to see dry and fairly sunny conditions as they took to the track for the first round.
Q1: Leclerc quickest ahead of a flying Albon as Norris caught out by yellows
Among the cars making a quick start to the session was Oliver Bearman, his Haas fully repaired after his late accident in FP3. Also up and running straight away was Esteban Ocon, who had suffered a power unit issue on his very first out lap.
There was a brief Williams 1-2 for Franco Colapinto and Alex Albon, but soon it was the usual suspects in charge of proceedings with Sergio Perez setting the time with a lap of 1:43.436s putting him ahead of Charles Leclerc. Sainz then jumped into second before subsequently taking to an escape road, and Coalpinto was by no means done as he returned to third place.
Leclerc then delivered a lap of 1:42.775s to go top, which left Perez half a second in arrears. Having started on mediums, George Russell got a tow with his latest run and improved to second, but he was only a little faster than Perez. Hamilton had been dawdling around the drop zone but now found some proper speed to slip into P4.
RB's Yuki Tsunoda found himself on the bubble but things were looking distinctly dicey for Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo and Zhou Guanyu. The Chinese driver already had a grid penalty for an engine change and so he spent his time offering Bottas a tow in vain. Improvements saw Verstappen briefly backed into the elimination zone having been unhappy with his car mid-session, but he was looking back up to speed and moving into safety.
Now it was McLaren feeling the heat with one last chance for both drivers to avoid missing the cut. Oscar Piastri made it, but a brief yellow flag for debris from Ocon's car forced Lando Norris to back off. As a result he failed to improve his time, meaning he was out and facing a start from P17 tomorrow. Also eliminated were Ricciardo, Bottas, Guanyu and Ocon.
Leclerc's time had been good enough for top spot with Albon confirming Williams' pace here this weekend in second ahead of Piastri, and Pierre Gasly in fourth ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen. Colapinto was through in eighth ahead of Russell and Perez, with Bearman also making the cut in P14 just ahead of Fernando Alonso who scraped through on the bubble.
Q2: Verstappen pips Leclerc as Williams continue their strong run
Piastri took early control of the timings with a lap of 1:42.598s putting him two tenths ahead of Russell, but then the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Perez took charge with the Red Bull finding half a second more pace than the McLaren despite a scrappy final sector for Verstappen who was straight on to fresh tyres as were Perez and Piastri.
Colapinto, Alonso, Gasly, Tsunoda and Lance Stroll were all in the drop zone after the initial runs. Ferrari were last to go, Leclerc taking a bow in second with Sainz into fourth, but Leclerc was unhappy that the team wasn't making the most of the tow with its tactics. After that everyone was back into the pit lane to take on fresh tyres for their serious flying laps with just Perez staying put in the garage.
Lots of drivers improved in the final minute but it appeared that the track had reached its optimum state. There are no purple sectors on the timing screens but Leclerc split the Bulls at the top, Russell jumped up to fourth ahead of a great final lap from Alonso
A sensational Colapinto was into Q3 in his second race weekend in sixth place, having out-paced Sainz, Piastri and Hamilton. Albon was also through in tenth, just nudging Bearman out of the final round. The other drivers left on the sidelines were Tsunoda, Gasly, Hulkenberg and Stroll.
Q3: Leclerc clinches pole ahead of Piastri with Sainz pipping Perez and Russell
It was a quiet start to the final top ten pole shoot-out round, with the cars initially staying put in their garages as they spied chances of setting up a trow with team mates and other cars.
Russell was out first ahead of Hamilton, both Mercedes cars on fresh tyres. Piastri was next on used softs and then it was the Ferrari pairing of Sainz and Leclerc with followed by Alonso, Verstappen, Albon, Colapinto and Perez, the two Williams having injected themselves between the two Bulls.
Russell duly set the initial pace with a lap of 1:41.962s with Hamilton a long way back complaining of low tyre temperatures. Piastri beat that, then Sainz, but Leclerc found an extra two tenth to take provisional pole with a time of 1:41.610s. Verstappen had a big slide in turn 16 which cost him time and left him sixth, slower than Perez.
After a brief return for service in pit lane, there was time for one last volley of flying laps. With no tow for Russell, the Mercedes was fourth with Hamilton only seventh. Piastri was next to post a time, and while it wasn't enough to challenge Leclerc it was good enough for a front row spot, 0.321s despite the Monegasque's latest time of 1:41.365s. Sainz was third ahead of Perez pushing Russell down to P5 ahead of Verstappen, Hamilton and Alonso.
Albon's final run was compromised by the team leaving an air fan on his car when he was ushered out. He stopped at pit exit and tried to hand the offending unit to a marshall but the gift was declined and Albon had to throw it to the side. After all that he wasn't able to reach the start line in time to begin his flying lap; a team penalty for unsafe release is inevitable.
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