Baku, Azerbaijan – Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing secured the top spot in a highly disrupted qualifying session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, marking what many are calling the moast chaotic qualifying of the Formula 1 season.
Verstappen finished ahead of Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson, the latter having unexpectedly reached the first qualifying session. Sainz trailed Verstappen by 0.478 seconds, with Lawson further behind.
The session was repeatedly halted by red flags due to a series of accidents, extending the qualifying duration to nearly two hours.
Multiple drivers encountered issues throughout the session. Alexander Albon, Pierre Gasly, Franco Colapinto, and Nico Hulkenberg all crashed in the first segment, though Hulkenberg was able to return to the track. Oliver Bearman also experienced a crash in the second qualifying session. The final segment saw incidents involving Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, both impacting the barriers.
A brief period of rainfall during the final qualifying segment threatened to alter the results, but the track conditions improved during the red flag periods. sainz had briefly appeared poised to claim pole position before the disruptions.
Lando Norris, despite an opportunity to improve his position, finished seventh, while his teammate, involved in an earlier accident, ended the session in ninth.
Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull Racing) and the Mercedes pairing of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli secured positions within the top ten. Isck Hadjar of Racing bulls placed himself among the McLaren drivers, and Charles Leclerc finished tenth.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 2:00 PM local time.
