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Key events
Max Verstappen on pole, Norris down in seventh
Verstappen is delighted to come out on top after such a chaotic qualifying session – and he’ll be joined on the front row by Carlos Sainz! Liam Lawson is third, Kimi Antonelli fourth, with Russell and Tsunoda on the third row. Lando Norris ends up in seventh place!
Q3: Both Mercedes post quicker times than Norris, but it’s down to Max Verstappen to deny Carlos Sainz … and he’s got the job done! A first-ever pole in Baku for the defending world champion.
Q3: We’re on board with Lando Norris, who has a couple of big near-misses as he tries to push it to the limit. But the McLaren is slower than Sainz – and now Liam Lawson jumps into second.
Q3: Provisional leader Sainz is unhappy that Russell overtook him in the queue before rejoining the track; Williams say they’ll report it but I don’t imagine there’ll be any further action.
Q3 resumes: Here we go again – after six red flags and almost two hours, we should finally find out who’ll be on pole tomorrow. Norris is on used soft tyres, Verstappen and Russell on new softs.
“I just braked a little too late, ended up locking it up,” says Oscar Piastri. “The first two corners were really good, I don’t know if I just tried a bit too much. I need to go and look [at the data] but I think I just pushed it a little too hard. I think the win [tomorrow] is ambitious, but let’s wait and see if we can make progress.”
We’ll resume in about three minutes. This could be a big moment for Lando Norris, who will be desperate to grab pole position with his title rival set to start on the fifth row of the grid.
Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli have both been noted for a red-flag infringement, failing to get into the pit lane in time. I imagine both drivers will escape punishment, a case of bad timing more than anything else.
Q3 paused: There are only three minutes, 41 seconds left for drivers to set a lap time; Carlos Sainz is the provisional leader, and could be the first Williams driver on pole since Felipe Massa in 2014. Unlikely, but not impossible given what’s gone on so far.
Oscar Piastri crashes out of Q3!
Good grief. The championship leader is out on turn three, his McLaren crumpling into the wall. That’s a record sixth red flag in one qualifying session, and nobody was able to set a lap time before the Australian – who appears to be fine – crashed out.
Q3 is back under way: New soft tyres for both McLarens as we resume, with just over five minutes left in this dramatic, delayed qualifying session.
“I’m so disappointed,” says Lewis Hamilton after dropping out in Q2. “On paper, it looked like the right strategy but I think we were on the wrong tyre at the end. I wanted to switch to mediums, but I was told there wasn’t time to warm them up. It had been a really good start to the weekend, it felt like we had a shot at pole position.”
Q3: We’re currently under a yellow flag and will resume in about three minutes. The nine drivers still on track will have seven minutes to post a hot lap in conditions akin to Mario Kart’s Sherbet Land.
Q3 is paused, and only three drivers have posted times: Sainz, Lawson and Hadjar. “Can we do a dance for some more rain?” the Williams man chuckles over the team radio.
That’s a record-equalling five red flags, and the weather could cause further problems. “The white lines are like ice,” says Antonelli. On Sky, Bernie Collins isn’t too concerned. “As an Irish person, this isn’t even real rain,” she reports from the pit wall.
Charles Leclerc crashes out of Q3
A bad day for Ferrari gets even worse as Leclerc loses grip on a tight bend, and shunts straight into the barriers. He’s out, without posting a lap time!
Q3: Verstappen is concerned by the increasingly slippery conditions, as drivers race to get a lap-time in before things get any worse …
Q3: The McLarens are on medium tyres for this final session, while Liam Lawson is reporting a few spots of rain as he heads out onto the track. He and teammate Hadjar are the only drivers on softs.
Q3 is under way! The battle for pole is officially on. Lance Stroll, one of the drivers eliminated in Q2, also reported a huge tailwind as he tried to squeeze into the top 10. Meanwhile, Antonelli will have to see the stewards over that yellow-flag infringement in Q1.
Standings after Q2
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Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
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Lando Norris (McLaren)
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Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
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George Russell (Mercedes)
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Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
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Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
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Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
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Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
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Carlos Sainz (Williams)
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Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
Eliminated: Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Oliver Bearman (Haas).
Verstappen leads as Q2 comes to a close, while Yuki Tsunoda squeaks through, his Red Bull just pipping Fernando Alonso. His Aston Martin teammate, Lance Stroll, is also out, along with Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto.
Lewis Hamilton goes out in Q2
A promising weekend for the Ferrari driver comes undone, as he runs out of time to record a quicker lap, and heads for the pits. It looks like he’ll be 12th on the grid tomorrow.
Q2: The good news for Ferrari is that Leclerc has just leapt into fourth place after finally posting a time; the bad news is that pushes Hamilton out of the top 10. And Tsunoda is also below the red line as Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin moves above him.
Q2: Verstappen jumps back up to second, while Carlos Sainz is in sixth. With Bearman out, the quartet currently in trouble are Stroll, Bortoleto, Alonso – and Leclerc.
Q2: Piastri clips a barrier with his right rear tyre as he tries to squeeze a few more milliseconds out of his McLaren. Meanwhile, it’s suddenly looking grim for Ferrari – Hamilton is 10th, and Leclerc has yet to post a lap time with three minutes to go …
Q2: Norris and Piastri post lap times, with Norris 0.24s ahead of his teammate – and the two Mercedes quickly split the McLarens, Russell and Antonelli both looking strong on medium tyres.
Q2 resumes: Back under way with 10 minutes to go; Verstappen currently leads from Leclerc – and the Ferrari loses his line going into turn one, to mess up his chances of overtaking the Red Bull.
In case you’re wondering, the record for red flags in one qualifying session is five. That happened at Imola in 2022 and São Paulo in 2024, with rain causing havoc on both occasions.
A fourth red flag! And Ollie Bearman is out after colliding with the wall at turn two. “Sorry guys,” he tells his Haas pit crew. “So stupid.” Clearly the windy conditions – and possibly the lowish sun – are causing plenty of drivers problems.
Q2 is under way! Another 15-minute session which will trim the field down from 15 drivers to 10. An early yellow flag as Isack Hadjar ends up in the same run-off area that trapped Gasly in Q1.
It seems Gasly was affected by another tailwind gust – and Colapinto crashed moments later, perhaps after spying his teammate in the run-off area. Another tough day for the Argentinian, who is in a battle for his seat with Alpine.
According to team principal Flavio Briatore, it’s between Colapinto and the Estonian reserve driver Paul Aron. “My only interest is to try to take the best driver available and do the best job with us,” the Italian told the-race.com. “I need another one or two races to see, but honestly today I don’t know.“ Gasly is under contract until 2028.
Standings after Q1
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Lando Norris (McLaren)
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Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
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Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
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George Russell (Mercedes)
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Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
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Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
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Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
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Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
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Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
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Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
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Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
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Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
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Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
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Carlos Sainz (Williams)
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Oliver Bearman (Haas)
Eliminated: Franco Colapinto (Alpine), Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber), Esteban Ocon (Haas), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Alex Albon (Williams).
Q1: A minute to go, and Lando Norris is the new leader, just 0.009s ahead of Max Verstappen. And the session ends with a third red flag after a disastrous lap for Alpine: Pierre Gasly loses grip into turn four, and Franco Colapinto hits a wall. Both are eliminated.
Q1: George Russell momentarily tops the standings before being replaced by Leclerc – while Mercedes teammate Antonelli rescues his qualifying bid by posting a clean lap, jumping up to sixth.
Q1: Everyone bar the Red Bulls and McLarens are on soft tyres with just over five minutes left. Antonelli, Bortoleto, Stroll and Hulkenberg are the quartet trying to get out of the danger zone; Alex Albon posted a time but is already out after his costly crash.
Q1 resumes: We’re back under way with 6min 36sec left in the first session. Antonelli is having a few issues, not least a tailwind gust which threw him off line – he’s the only driver yet to set a lap time.
Red flag! We’re at a standstill again, after Nico Hülkenberg collides with a wall at turn four. Piastri had just posted his first lap, and it’s quicker than Leclerc – but Lewis Hamilton is the new leader, with Ferrari bringing their practice pace to qualifying so far.
Q1: Approaching the halfway mark of this stop-start session, where Lecelerc still leads with a lap time of 1:41.982. The Ferraris are on softs, while the McLarens and Red Bulls are on medium tyres.
Q1 resumes: Kimi Antonelli has his name taken for a yellow flag infringement – the Italian claims he didn’t see the flag, but he may end up getting a grid penalty for that.
Watching the various garages frantically tinker with their cars’ setup, I feel a bit like I’m live blogging a busy day at Kwik-Fit. Anyway, we’re back under way …
Q1 paused: As we wait to resume in three minutes or so, Esteban Ocon is reporting that a fallen branch is caught under his rear tyre. All happening early on. Oscar Piastri didn’t get time to post a full lap before the red flag for Albon, and will be eager to get back out there.
Red flag! Alex Albon has clattered into a corner, damaged his front left tyre and is out of qualifying. The session has stopped with 11min 33sec to go; Charles Leclerc had just set a fastest time on red soft tyres.
Q1: Carlos Sainz is the early leader, with all 20 drivers now out on the circuit. The wind is blowing a fair bit of foliage and debris around, while Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg almost clipped a wall and has posted the slowest time so far.
Q1 is under way
Early cars out on the track include the two Williams – but Oscar Piastri’s McLaren won’t be going anywhere just yet. Mechanics seem to be replacing something on the front of his car – still plenty of time for him to get through this first session though.
Azerbaijan GP secures calendar spot until 2030
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix will stay on the Formula 1 calendar until at least 2030 after receiving a four-year contract extension. The contract for the street circuit had been due to expire after next year’s race, but it has been confirmed today that a new deal has been agreed.
Azerbaijan was seen as a surprise venue on its debut in 2016 but has become known as one of F1’s more unpredictable circuits. Off the track, holding a race here also raised concerns over the country’s human rights record. Amnesty has reported “a sharp decline in respect for human rights” in Azerbaijan over the last year.
Here are the latest drivers’ championship standings:
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Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 324pts
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Lando Norris (GB) McLaren 293pts
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Max Verstappen (Neth) Red Bull 230pts
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George Russell (GB) Mercedes 194pts
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Charles Leclerc (Mon) 163pts
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Lewis Hamilton (GB) 117pts
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Alexander Albon (Thai) 70pts
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Kimi Antonelli (It) 66pts
More on Saturday’s final practice, where Lando Norris set the pace and winds picked up. The title-chasing British driver had a hefty bang into the wall which brought an early end to his running in Friday’s second practice but his McLaren escaped without any significant damage.
Norris was the first of the front-running drivers on track on Saturday but swiftly complained that his car felt “sketchy”. He initially struggled to find pace but surged to the top of the charts in the closing stages to end the session 0.222sec clear of Max Verstappen.
Championship leader Oscar Piastri, who like Norris also banged into the wall on Friday, had another troubled session as he narrowly avoided another collision with the barriers before also taking to the run-off area at turn one. The Australian, who leads Norris by 31 points in the standings, was third-fastest and over two tenths behind his teammate.
Baku lived up to its moniker as the “City of Winds” as 20kmph gusts swept across the street circuit on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
Lewis Hamilton, fastest on Friday, was fourth for Ferrari. His team-mate Charles Leclerc, who will bid for a fifth consecutive pole position in Baku, appeared to have genuine pace before a nudge against the wall and he ended the session down in 10th. PA Media
Preamble
It was on the streets of Baku a year ago that McLaren began to emerge as Formula One’s leading force. Oscar Piastri won his second grand prix, Lando Norris fought through the field and McLaren overtook Red Bull in the constructors’ championship.
Twelve months on, McLaren have accelerated away from their rivals. They could secure the constructors’ title on Sunday and the only real question left is which one of their drivers will win the world championship. Piastri has racked up another seven GP wins since to lead the race from Lando Norris.
The Briton’s return to Baku this weekend has been a mixed bag – he suffered a “costly” crash in practice on Friday, when the twin Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were fastest. “Overall we seem pretty strong – but it looks like McLaren are in another world,” was Leclerc’s gloomy prediction.
Norris lived up to those expectations in today’s final session, with Max Verstappen second and Piastri third. Leclerc’s mood might not change much even if he tops qualifying today; Leclerc has been on pole for the last four trips here, but has never won the main race. Qualifying gets under way at 1pm (BST), 4pm local time.
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