Charles Leclerc on Azerbaijan GP pole as Lando Norris suffers howler
Charles Leclerc takes pole position as Lando Norris drops out in Q1, writes Lewis Larkam in Baku.
Charles Leclerc claimed pole position for the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, while Lando Norris will start down in 17th after a nightmare qualifying.
Ferrari’s Leclerc set a blistering pace to end up 0.321 seconds faster than McLaren’s Oscar Piastri as he secured his fourth consecutive pole around the streets of Baku.
Piastri’s late improvement denied Ferrari a front-row lockout as Carlos Sainz was shuffled down to third, ahead of Sergio Perez, who out qualified Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen for the first time this season.
But the headline from qualifying was Norris’s shock Q1 elimination. A mistake a Turn 16 ruined Norris’s chances of progressing any further in qualifying and left him 17th - dealing a massive blow to his title hopes.
The 24-year-old Briton came into the weekend 62 points behind Verstappen and knowing that McLaren would “bias” their support towards him in a bid to boost his championship chances.
But with Norris starting way down the order in 17th, he goes into Sunday’s race on the back foot and aware he is highly likely to lose crucial ground to title rival Verstappen.
Reigning world champion Verstappen was only sixth fastest himself, sandwiched between the Mercedes of George Russell (fifth) and Lewis Hamilton (seventh).
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was eighth, while Franco Colapinto caught the eye with an outstanding qualifying in just his second F1 race since being promoted from F2 to replace Logan Sargeant.
The 21-year-old Argentinian was ninth-fastest and quicker than Williams teammate Alex Albon, who was bizarrely sent out of the pit box with a cooling fan still attached to his car ahead of his final run of Q3.
Oliver Bearman, on his first full-grand prix weekend, outqualifed Haas teammate Nico Hulkenberg on his way to taking an impressive 11th - the exact same position he qualified for Ferrari on his F1 debut in Saudi Arabia.
RB’s Yuki Tsunoda was 12th ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Hulkenberg, while Lance Stroll failed to join Aston Martin teammate Alonso in Q3, setting a time good enough for only 15th.
Joining Norris at the back of the grid are RB’s Daniel Ricciardo in 16th, the Sauber duo of Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou in 18th and 19th and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who hit the wall.
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for Crash.net around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
