A recap of what happened in qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Charles Leclerc beat Max Verstappen to pole.
That concludes our live coverage of qualifying in Azerbaijan but make sure to join us again bright and early tomorrow morning when we do it all over again!
The first-ever ‘Sprint Shootout’ will take place at 9.30am tomorrow morning to set the grid for the standalone sprint race later in the afternoon.
Will we see a different result tomorrow? We can't wait to find out.
And here is our qualifying report as Leclerc made it three in a row.
Leclerc takes pole in Baku for the third consecutive year and scores the first non-Red Bull pole of 2023.
A brilliant final lap from Leclerc sees him snatch pole away from Verstappen!
It's a 1m40.203s from the Ferrari driver, who takes pole by 0.188s ahead of Verstappen and Perez.
Sainz will join Perez on the second row, with Hamilton fifth ahead of Alonso, Norris, Tsunoda, Stroll and Piastri.
Wow, what a session that was!
The field are beginning their final laps of Q3 now. It's all or nothing.
How things stand after the opening salvos:
1) Verstappen, Red Bull
2) Leclerc, Ferrari
3) Perez, Red Bull
4) Sainz, Ferrari
5) Hamilton, Mercedes
6) Norris, McLaren
7) Stroll, Aston Martin
8) Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
9) Alonso, Aston Martin
10) Piastri, McLaren
Verstappen and Leclerc have posted identical lap times on their first runs of Q3.
Verstappen sits on provisional pole due to setting his lap first! Incredible!
Perez tucks into third, some 0.118s adrift.
The final part of qualifying is underway. Who will take pole position in Baku?
Wow! Russell has been eliminated in Q2.
Out in Q2:
11) Russell, Mercedes
12) Ocon, Alpine
13) Albon, Williams
14) Bottas, Alfa Romeo
15) Sargeant, Williams
The chequered flag comes out and it is Verstappen who ends up fastest with a late lap to go 0.215s clear of Leclerc.
Leclerc now goes fastest on a 1m41.037s. That's 0.094s quicker than Perez's previous best.
There are also improvements for the Mercedes pair of Hamilton and Russell, who sit eighth and ninth.
Perez's benchmark of a 1m41.131 is already quicker than last year's pole time (1m41.359s). We aren't even in Q3 yet!
The first runs are done and it is Perez who heads Verstappen in the early stages.
Alonso is third, ahead of the Mercedes duo of Russell and Hamilton.
Who will make it through into the top 10 shootout for pole position? It's time to find out.
Hats off to Sargeant, who has made it through to Q2 for the first time in his F1 career.
The American rookie set a lap good enough for P11 on his final run and ended up less than a tenth behind Williams teammate Albon (P8).
Leclerc ends up fastest of all as the chequered flag falls at the end of Q1.
Eliminated are Zhou, Hulkenberg, Magnussen, Gasly and de Vries.
The Alfa Romeo pair of Bottas and Zhou and Haas' Magnussen are the drivers in the drop zone with one final run to go.
Verstappen pulls 0.3s clear of Perez, ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton's Mercedes.
Norris is fifth, ahead of Albon, Alonso, Stroll, Russell and Sainz, who completes the current top 10.
Form an ̶o̶r̶d̶e̶r̶l̶y̶ ̶ queue #AzerbaijanGP#F1pic.twitter.com/93Xk5Kqzk2
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 28, 2023
Green light at the end of the pitlane and we are underway once more. Seven and a half minutes left on the clock. Let's try that again (again).
Netflix's Drive To Survive film crew are following Gasly and Alpine this weekend...
"I'm sorry."
Gasly has clouted his Alpine against the Turn 3 barriers, but unlike de Vries' accident, it's the rear-end that's hit the wall.
What a miserable day for the Frenchman and Alpine so far.
Meanwhile, Sainz very nearly binned it with a spin coming out of Turn 1.
Now Gasly has crashed!
After a delayed recovery due to to the nose of de Vries' car getting wedged in the tech pro barriers, we are good to go again.
Let's try Q1 again, shall we?
