Verstappen takes Baku pole after record six red flags

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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc climbs out of his car after crashing into the barriers during qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Red Bull's Max Verstappen took pole position ahead of Williams' Carlos Sainz after an extraordinary qualifying session featuring a record six red flags at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

McLaren's championship rivals Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris will start seventh and ninth, the Australian after crashing in the final part of qualifying and Norris failing to produce a good final lap.

Sainz was on course for pole position after being the fastest of three drivers to set a time before Ferrari's Charles Leclerc crashed early in the final part of qualifying.

Piastri then crashed shortly after the session was restarted, and Verstappen was the only driver able to improve on Sainz's time when the session restarted for the final time with just over three minutes remaining.

Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson will start third, with the lap time he set behind Sainz in the first part of the session.

Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell managed fifth and sixth fastest time but the Italian faces an investigation for overtaking under yellow flags after one of many incidents in the session.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton was fastest in Friday practice but will start 12th after failing to progress from the second part of qualifying.

Norris 'needs to do some overtaking'

Norris had a golden opportunity to make up ground on Piastri, who has a 31-point advantage in the championship, after the Australian's crash at Turn Three in the middle of the final session.

But the Briton had a scrappy final lap, with lots of moments on the exits of corners and could only manage a time 1.122secs slower than Verstappen. He was also beaten by the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda.

"Just wasn't quick enough in the final run," Norris said. "Was always good before and think we took the risk of trying to go first out thinking that if there was another crash at least I'd get the lap in, but it was just a lot worse for the track because it was still raining a little bit.

"I'm not disappointed because I made a small mistake and hit the wall on the final lap, just a trickier track for me being the first one out and I paid the price for that.

"Max has been on the pace all weekend so to try and win may be a bit unrealistic but want maximum points and need to do some overtaking."

The second Racing Bull of Isack Hadjar, the other driver to set a time at the start of the session, was eighth, ahead of the crash drivers Piastri and Leclerc.

Verstappen said: "It was a very difficult session and on the last lap you just have to send it. I wasn't even on the best tyres I wanted because you just run out of tyres."

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How the crashes unfolded

Leclerc's crash made it another dire day for Ferrari after Hamilton failed to make the top-10 shootout.

The session ran for two hours and the six red-flag stoppages broke a record that had previously been tied by the 2022 Emilia-Romagna and 2024 Sao Paulo Grands Prix.

The first person to crash was Williams' Alex Albon, who hit the inside apex at Turn One, causing the first of three red-flag stoppages in the first session.

Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg caused the second, by crashing at Turn Four, and the session ended a few seconds early after both Alpine drivers made mistakes at the same corner after the restart.

Pierre Gasly first sped up the escape road, before his team-mate Franco Colapinto misjudged his entry into the same corner, despite waved yellow flags, and crashed on the exit.

Haas driver Oliver Bearman then brought out the next red flag when he oversteered into the wall on the exit of Turn Two early in the second session. The session then ran to the end without incident, although Piastri hit the wall on the exit of Turn 15 but was able to carry on with his lap.

The excitement was increased during the stoppages in the final session because light rain was starting to fall, which may have influenced the crashes of Leclerc and Piastri.

Leclerc, who had been on pole in Baku for the past four years, went straight on into the tyre barrier at Turn 15, before Piastri did the same thing at Turn Three on the restart.

Hamilton said he felt Ferrari had made a mistake on not putting him on medium tyres for the second session.

"We should have used a medium in Q2," he said. "That's what everyone else did, we knew it was quicker and I can't tell you why we didn't end up using it, but we will take it internal, but there has been lots of progress.

"I'm still optimistic for the race in terms of trying to move forwards, but wow, I thought I was fighting for the top three, so it's a big shock."