Max Verstappen took a dramatic sixth pole of the season in Baku beating surprise front-row qualifier Carlos Sainz and third-placed Liam Lawson at the end of a marathon session that saw championship leader Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc crash out as red flags were flown six times. 

At the start of Q1, Ferrari’s Leclerc, on Soft tyres, took top spot thanks to a lap of 1:41.982 with Verstappen slotting into P2, two tenths off the Ferrari driver and two ahead of Norris. However, as the opening runs came to an end, the red flags were displayed for the first time. 

Williams’ Alex Albon clipped the wall on the inside of Turn 1 and with his front-left suspension broken the Williams driver stopped on track. The incident left Piastri and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli without a time on the board. 

When the session resumed, Lewis Hamilton put the other Ferrari top with a lap of 1:41.821. Piastri then jumped from P20 to P2, a little over a tenth ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen. 

However, as those runs came to an end the red flags came out again. Kick Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg hit the wall in Turn 4 and though he was able to limp back to the pits minus a front wing, the session was halted. 

When the action got going again Norris, on Softs, took top spot with a time of 1:41.322. Verstappen also found more time, climbing to P2, just 0.009s off the McLaren driver. 

With only seconds remaining the red flags appeared for a third time. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly brought out the red flags when he went deep into the escape road at Turn 4 and then team-mate Franco Colapinto clouted the wall on the exit of the same corner. Colapinto dropped out in P16, and he was followed to the exit by Hülkenberg, Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Gasly and Albon. 

 Almost as soon as Q2 got underway, the red flags were waved again. Haas’ Oliver Bearman hit the concrete wall on the exit of Turn 2 and he ground to a halt on the run to the following corner.

With Bearman’s Haas removed from the track and the session underway once more Norris and Verstappen continued to battle for top spot, with the McLaren driver taking P1 with a lap of 1:41.39 while the Red Bull driver claimed P2, five hundredths of a second off the pace. 

Behind them Leclerc, who had made mistakes earlier in the session and had not posted a time, needed a clean lap and his final flyer jumped him into the top. That pushed Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda into the drop zone but the Japanese driver dug deep and scraped into the top 10 shootout at the expense of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who dropped out ahead of Hamilton, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, the second Aston of Lance Stroll and the unfortunate Bearman. 

As the final session got underway small droplets of rain began to and with moments Mercedes’ George Russell was sliding up the escape road at Turn 4. Verstappen was swiftly on the radio saying, “it's too slippery. Now Russell goes straight - it's raining.” 

It appeared, however, that Leclerc didn’t read the conditions quite as well. The Monegasque driver locked up into Turn 15 and after he hit the barriers, the red flags were flown yet again. 

Under the red flags just three drivers – provisional pole sitter Carlos Sainz and the twin Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar – had times on the board and the final runs would all be about who could hold their nerve best. 

And Piastri was the first to falter. The championship leader went too hot into Turn 3 and in similar style to Leclerc he arrowed straight into the barriers to halt the session for a sixth time. 

When the session resumed for the last time, with enough on the clock for a single run, it was Verstappen who kept his cool best. 

Norris, first out on track, was too ragged and when he scraped the wall on the outside of Turn 15 his lap was gone and he slid down the order. 

Verstappen, though, was flawless and when the four-time champion crossed the line it was in 1:41.117 enough to deliver a first Baku pole ahead of Sainz and Lawson.

Russell and Kimi Antonelli took P5 and P6 respectively for Mercedes, while Tsunoda took his best ever qualifying spot with Red Bull in P6, ahead of Norris, Hadjar, Piastri and Leclerc. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:41.117 - -
2 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:41.595 0.478 
3 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:41.707 0.590 
4 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:41.717 0.600 
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:42.070 0.953 
6 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:42.143 1.026 
7 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:42.239 1.122 
8 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:42.372 1.255 
9 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes - - -
10 Charles Leclerc Ferrari - - -
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:41.857 0.740 
12 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:42.183 1.066 
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:42.277 1.160 
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:43.061 1.944 
15 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari - - -
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 1:42.779 1.662 
17 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:42.916 1.799 
18 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:43.004 1.887 
19 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:43.139 2.022 
20 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:43.778 2.661