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Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for the fourth consecutive year, while Lando Norris encountered significant difficulties in his bid to challenge Max Verstappen in the title race.
Norris, trailing Verstappen by 62 points in the championship, qualified 17th after encountering yellow flags during his final lap in the first session, further exacerbating his challenge. He will start 16th due to a disqualification of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly for a technical infringement. Verstappen qualified sixth, while his Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, managed fourth.
Leclerc, aiming for back-to-back victories after his win at Ferrari’s home Italian Grand Prix, finished 0.321 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who secured second place. Leclerc acknowledged the challenges of the weekend, including an earlier crash in practice, but expressed optimism about his race pace on Sunday.
“I really like [this track], but it hasn’t been an easy weekend,” Leclerc said. “In the past, we struggled with race pace, but this year we are better, so I’m hopeful we can finally do it tomorrow.”
Mercedes’ George Russell qualified fifth, with teammate Lewis Hamilton in seventh. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso took eighth, while Franco Colapinto impressed with ninth for Williams in only his second appearance for the team.
Norris, meanwhile, voiced frustration over his yellow-flag-affected lap, questioning whether the flag was necessary. “The lap was easily good enough, but I had to back off,” he said. “I’m not expecting much from 17th, but we’ll do our best.”
Verstappen also expressed disappointment with his car’s performance, citing discomfort throughout qualifying. “Some changes we made actually made it worse,” he admitted. “When you’re not comfortable on a street circuit, you can’t push to the limit.”
Oliver Bearman, making his debut for Haas in place of the suspended Kevin Magnussen, qualified 11th despite crashing in final practice. Gasly, who qualified 13th, was disqualified for exceeding the fuel-flow limit, relegating him to the back of the grid.
