Monaco’s Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) will start for the fourth consecutive time from pole position in the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday, ahead of Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren), second in qualifying held on Saturday in the streets of Baku.
Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Mexican Sergio Perez (Red Bull) will start from the second row. Championship leader Max Verstappen (Red Bull) will only be 6th on the grid, behind the Mercedes of Briton George Russell, 5th.
The fourth row will see two former multiple world champions, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 7th, having beaten Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), 8th.
Argentinian Franco Colapinto, who is competing in his second GP in the elite with Williams, will start 9th.
On Sunday, Red Bull could lose the lead in the constructors’ championship to McLaren, who are only eight points behind.
Although everything remains to be played for on Sunday, the Austrian team remains for the moment in a strong position against its English rival since the second McLaren, that of Lando Norris, will only start from a very distant 17th place on the grid.
The Briton, second in the championship 62 points behind Verstappen, explained that he was hampered by a yellow flag on his only fast lap in the first part of qualifying (Q1), forcing him to slow down.
Mathematically, Ferrari, currently 3rd in the championship, 39 points behind Red Bull, can also regain the overall lead, but with a maximum of 44 points to recover at the end of the GP, the task will prove more complicated.
French Alpine team riders Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon failed to qualify in the top ten. They will start the GP in 13th and 19th place respectively, which will start at 15:00 (13:00 Paris time).
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