Charles Leclerc starts the Azerbaijan GP from pole position for the fourth time in a row. World championship leader Max Verstappen takes 6th place on the grid, while his biggest rival Lando Norris experiences a debacle.
Leclerc is only the second driver in Formula 1 after record world champion Michael Schumacher to start from pole position four times in a row on a single track. On his fastest lap on the street circuit in Baku, the Monegasque in the Ferrari distanced second-placed Oscar Piastri in the McLaren by just over three tenths.
On the second row of the grid are Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari and Sergio Perez in the Red Bull. The Mexican somewhat surprisingly left his team-mate Max Verstappen behind him. The three-time world champion and championship leader only finished 6th behind George Russell and ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes.
Debacle for Norris
The time chase on the last Grand Prix weekend of the season in Europe was even more disappointing for Lando Norris, Verstappen's first rival in the championship standings. The Englishman in the McLaren retired after the first part of qualifying and will only start the race from 17th position.
Lando Norris had not completed a particularly fast first lap in the first section of qualifying and put everything on his second attempt. However, he was thwarted by a yellow flag. A tire defect on the car in front of him meant that Norris had to slow down. As a result, he missed out on a place in the second qualifying section for the top 15 drivers.
"I was banking on the second lap and then had to take my foot off the gas," said Norris on Sky. "It's frustrating, but there's nothing I can do about it. I have to hope for the unusual on Sunday. It's going to be a long race, the car is fast."
Norris' slip-up came as a surprise. The Englishman had started from the very front three times in the last four races. His McLaren team was also the only one to always have both cars in the third and final part of qualifying this season. For Norris, it is a hard blow in the battle for the world championship title.
The Sauber drivers once again failed to get off the mark and find themselves far down the field. Valtteri Bottas will start from 18th on the grid, Zhou Guanyu from 20th at the very back. The Chinese driver left Esteban Ocon in the Alpine behind him in qualifying, but was relegated to the back of the grid because engine parts on his car were replaced beyond the permitted limits.
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