F1 Qualifying GP Azerbaijan 2022: Leclerc Pole, Sainz 4th

Charles Leclerc achieves pole position at the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix after completing a magical lap at the end of Q3. The Monegasque was fighting for pole with his teammate, Carlos Sainz, but the Madrid native dropped out of the fight after making a mistake that finally left him fourth.

After Leclerc, the Red Bulls of Sergio Pérez and Max Verstappen will start, while Fernando Alonso will start from tenth place on the grid.

Red Bull sends in a Q1 with Stroll’s accident

The Red Bull team, which had led the third free practice sessions with Sergio Pérez, started by setting the first two times in Q1 of the Azerbaijan GP classification. Max Verstappen achieved a time of 1:42.722 that served him to be the leader, beating his teammate Pérez by eleven thousandths, with the two Ferraris behind.

The negative protagonist of the first part of qualifying was Lance Stroll, who suffered an accident with two and a half minutes remaining in the session, which caused a red flag. A few moments before, the Canadian had touched the barriers but decided to continue with the car ‘touched’ and ended up against the wall.

The session resumed with those two minutes remaining on the stopwatch and a large part of the grid already prepared in the pit-lane to get out quickly and avoid falling into Q1. All the cars came out on the track except for the Ferraris, Vettel, Ocon and the injured Stroll. The only flying lap they had was very traffic-conditioned and very few were able to improve their times.

Sainz and Alonso, fourth and twelfth respectively, managed to make it through the cut without major problems. Kevin Magnussen, Alexander Albon, Nicholas Latifi, Lance Stroll and Mick Schumacher did not.

Wall friction and battle between Ferrari and Red Bull in Q2

Ferrari made it clear to Red Bull that they were not alone in the fight for pole position. Carlos Sainz, with a brilliant lap at the start of Q2, took the lead with a time of 1:41.955 which was only bettered by Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc in the last moments of the session when the track had improved. Pérez took first place with only 91 thousandths over Leclerc.

There were some scares and brushes against the wall. The most serious was that of Sebastian Vettel, who came to touch the barriers due to a brake problem, but was able to return to the pits and managed to move on to Q3 with seventh place. Some of the favorites, Leclerc and Verstappen, brushed the wall without major consequences.

Alonso, ninth, managed to make the cut despite being slowed down by a yellow flag, but the McLarens of Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo, Esteban Ocon, Guanyu Zhou and Valtteri Bottas did not make it. Hamilton, who also made the cut, was investigated for driving too slowly when he wanted to be overtaken to get a slipstream.

Carlos Sainz caresses his first pole

Spectacular start to Q3 by Carlos Sainz, who was placed on provisional pole with a magnificent lap of 1:41.814. His partner, Charles Leclerc, who stayed 47 thousandths away, could not beat him, nor could Pérez’s Red Bulls-who touched the wall-nor Verstappen. Despite the mistakes, the top four were in just 175 thousandths.

With four minutes remaining, Sainz headed down the pit lane and began his second attempt to fight for the first F1 pole of his career. However, the man from Madrid was once again left with honey on his lips: he made a mistake on the final lap and had to abort his attempt to qualify.

His teammate, Leclerc, did not waste the opportunity and did a spectacular lap of 1:41.359, with which he beat the second, Sergio Pérez, by two tenths and Max Verstappen by three. Sainz, after his mistake, dropped to fourth place which, without a doubt, does not reflect his real pace.

After the Spaniard’s Ferrari, George Russell will start in fifth position, with Pierre Gasly in sixth and Lewis Hamilton in seventh. Yuki Tsunoda, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso complete the top ten positions.

The F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix will start tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.