The qualifying for the Azerbaijani Grand Prix ended with a somewhat surprising result, as it was won relatively easily by Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who had been struggling and crashing yesterday.
Q1 brought quite a bit of chaos, with a slight exaggeration, only those who didn't want to be in the lead didn't get to take the lead. As we progressed in time, the track conditions improved continuously, obviously everyone knew this, but there were those who tried to build extra tactics on it. The saksi was eventually won by the trio of Charles Leclerc, Alexander Albon, Oscar Piastri, while the eliminations included Daniel Ricciardo, Lando (!!) Norris, the two Alfa Romeos and Esteban Ocon.
After the first fast laps of Q2, the display showed Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez leading the way. This did not change in the remaining time, so the two Red Bulls, Leclerc, George Russell, Fernando Alonso, and Franco Colapinto in sixth place reached Q3 in the most prominent positions. However, there was no continuation for the two Haas, Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll, who were forced to say goodbye to further struggles.
The main question of Q3, besides the pole position, was whether Red Bull Racing, who had struggled during the three free practices so far, could improve to the point where they would be in the fight for the first grid square, or perhaps for the race victory? Well, after the first shots, it didn't seem like there was any reality to it. The Ferraris were in the lead, Leclerc, Sainz, in that order, while Alexander Albon and the Williams entertained us with scenes worthy of burlesque...
For a while it seemed that Oscar Piastri might be the winner, but then Charles Leclerc arrived and, overtaking him and his teammate, took the Azerbaijani pole position! Meanwhile, the Red Bull and Verstappen's pole race continues, the Dutchman was even beaten by his weak teammate...
