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dpa
Baku
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured pole position for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Formula One Grand Prix, his fourth pole in a row.
The Monegasque set a best time on Saturday of 1 minute 41.359 seconds on the Baku street circuit, where he was also quickest in qualifying last year.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was second fastest this time, 0.282 seconds behind, with team-mate Max Verstappen third quickest.
Despite being on pole in the last three races, Leclerc has failed to convert them to wins. He also lost out to race winner Perez in Baku last year.
Defending champion Verstappen leads Leclerc in the overall standings by nine points.
Leclerc, who picked up a 15th F1 pole having been fastest in Friday’s second practice session, said: “It feels good. This one I did not expect - I thought Red Bull were stronger especially in Q1 and Q2, but in the last lap everything came together.”
Mexican Perez, who topped the timesheets in first and final practice having triumphed in Monaco last time out, had an unusual problem before heading out in Q3.
“It wasn’t an ideal qualifying. We couldn’t turn the engine on...we lost a few tenths. I think Charles had a very good lap,” he said.
Verstappen kept Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in fourth and is hoping to team up with Perez to deny polesitter Leclerc once again.
“Being second and third means we have a good opportunity tomorrow,” the Dutchman added.
Mercedes driver George Russell was fifth fastest, again outqualifying team-mate and fellow Briton Lewis Hamilton, with AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly set to be sixth on Sunday’s grid.
Seven-times champion Hamilton, who was under investigation for going too slowly at one point in qualifying but eventually not punished, was seventh quickest.
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, Sebastian Vettel in his Aston Martin and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso completed the top 10.
Ferrari and Mercedes cars were again among those bouncing or “porpoising” on the fast Baku straights after teams had appeared to partly fix the issue at previous races following changes in aerodynamic rules.
McLaren’s Lando Norris went out in Q2 along with team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, Alpine driver Esteban Ocon and the Alfa Romeo duo of Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas.
In Q1, Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Alex Albon (Williams), Nicholas Latifi (Williams), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and backmarker Mick Schumacher (Haas) all bowed out.
Stroll lost his front wing as well as damaging his right-front tyre and suspension late on in Q1 after twice hitting the barriers on the tight circuit.
The third practice session was delayed by a crash in an earlier Formula Two event, meaning qualifying was also put back by 15 minutes.
Baku
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured pole position for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Formula One Grand Prix, his fourth pole in a row.
The Monegasque set a best time on Saturday of 1 minute 41.359 seconds on the Baku street circuit, where he was also quickest in qualifying last year.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was second fastest this time, 0.282 seconds behind, with team-mate Max Verstappen third quickest.
Despite being on pole in the last three races, Leclerc has failed to convert them to wins. He also lost out to race winner Perez in Baku last year.
Defending champion Verstappen leads Leclerc in the overall standings by nine points.
Leclerc, who picked up a 15th F1 pole having been fastest in Friday’s second practice session, said: “It feels good. This one I did not expect - I thought Red Bull were stronger especially in Q1 and Q2, but in the last lap everything came together.”
Mexican Perez, who topped the timesheets in first and final practice having triumphed in Monaco last time out, had an unusual problem before heading out in Q3.
“It wasn’t an ideal qualifying. We couldn’t turn the engine on...we lost a few tenths. I think Charles had a very good lap,” he said.
Verstappen kept Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in fourth and is hoping to team up with Perez to deny polesitter Leclerc once again.
“Being second and third means we have a good opportunity tomorrow,” the Dutchman added.
Mercedes driver George Russell was fifth fastest, again outqualifying team-mate and fellow Briton Lewis Hamilton, with AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly set to be sixth on Sunday’s grid.
Seven-times champion Hamilton, who was under investigation for going too slowly at one point in qualifying but eventually not punished, was seventh quickest.
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, Sebastian Vettel in his Aston Martin and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso completed the top 10.
Ferrari and Mercedes cars were again among those bouncing or “porpoising” on the fast Baku straights after teams had appeared to partly fix the issue at previous races following changes in aerodynamic rules.
McLaren’s Lando Norris went out in Q2 along with team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, Alpine driver Esteban Ocon and the Alfa Romeo duo of Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas.
In Q1, Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Alex Albon (Williams), Nicholas Latifi (Williams), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and backmarker Mick Schumacher (Haas) all bowed out.
Stroll lost his front wing as well as damaging his right-front tyre and suspension late on in Q1 after twice hitting the barriers on the tight circuit.
The third practice session was delayed by a crash in an earlier Formula Two event, meaning qualifying was also put back by 15 minutes.
