Leclerc will start ahead of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen of Red Bull after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3. Multiple crashes caused four red flags.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying results: Leclerc on pole from Hamilton

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Time	Gap
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1'41.218
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1'41.450	0.232
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1'41.563	0.345
4	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	1'41.565	0.347
5	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	1'41.576	0.358
6	Lando Norris	McLaren	1'41.747	0.529
7	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	1'41.917	0.699
8	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	1'42.211	0.993
9	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	1'42.327	1.109
10	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1'42.659	1.441
11	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	1'42.224	1.006
12	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1'42.273	1.055
13	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	1'42.558	1.340
14	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	1'42.587	1.369
15	George Russell	Williams	1'42.758	1.540
16	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	1'43.128	1.910
17	Mick Schumacher	Haas	1'44.158	2.940
18	Nikita Mazepin	Haas	1'44.238	3.020
19	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin
20	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo
View full results

What happened in Q1?

The first session was halted early on when Lance Stroll crashed his Aston Martin into the wall at Turn 15. Only Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had managed to set a laptime before the red flag, setting the benchmark at 1m42.535s.

After the green flag, Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari grabbed the top spot with a lap of 1m42.121s, which was quickly eclipsed by Verstappen on 1m41.760s, with teammate Sergio Perez taking second. Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi caused the second red flag when he virtually mirrored Stroll’s crash at Turn 15.

At the third attempt, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton initially rose to fourth on used soft tyres (after being forced to abort his first two runs) but then rose to P1 on his second push lap with 1m41.545s.

The majority of the frontrunners didn’t run again, although McLaren’s Lando Norris improved to fifth. He will be investigated after the session for a red flag procedure infringement, when he missed the pit entry as the reds flew.

Falling at the first hurdle were Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and the Haas duo of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, plus the shunters Stroll and Giovinazzi.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix Q1 results: Hamilton fastest from Verstappen

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	9	1'41.545
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	8	1'41.760	0.215	0.215
3	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	8	1'41.968	0.423	0.208
4	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	8	1'42.121	0.576	0.153
5	Lando Norris	McLaren	10	1'42.167	0.622	0.046
6	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	9	1'42.241	0.696	0.074
7	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	9	1'42.288	0.743	0.047
8	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	9	1'42.304	0.759	0.016
9	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	5	1'42.426	0.881	0.122
10	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	10	1'42.460	0.915	0.034
11	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	9	1'42.521	0.976	0.061
12	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	9	1'42.701	1.156	0.180
13	George Russell	Williams	8	1'42.728	1.183	0.027
14	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	9	1'42.923	1.378	0.195
15	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	10	1'42.934	1.389	0.011
16	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	8	1'43.128	1.583	0.194
17	Mick Schumacher	Haas	10	1'44.158	2.613	1.030
18	Nikita Mazepin	Haas	9	1'44.238	2.693	0.080
19	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	2
20	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	4
View full results

What happened in Q2?

In Q2, the pole position-hunting protagonists eschewed the usual practice of running medium tyres – with all drivers sticking with the softs.

Perez set the early pace on 1m41.630, 0.029s faster than Leclerc. Sainz was third, with Verstappen only fourth after the first run.

Hamilton then jumped up to second, 0.004s off P1, despite a mistake on the exit of Turn 16. Verstappen stayed out for a second push lap, and took the top spot on 1m41.625s – the top five being covered by just 0.034s, among which Yuki Tsunoda was an impressive fourth for AlphaTauri.

Daniel Ricciardo caused the third red flag when he locked up and piled his McLaren into the Turn 3 barriers. That curtailed the session early.

Knocked out at this point were Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel (who missed Q3 by 0.029s), Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Ricciardo, Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) and George Russell (whose Williams team had to swap power units between FP3 and qualifying due to a water pump failure).

Azerbaijan Grand Prix Q2 results: Verstappen fastest from Perez

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	6	1'41.625
2	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	5	1'41.630	0.005	0.005
3	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	6	1'41.634	0.009	0.004
4	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	6	1'41.654	0.029	0.020
5	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	5	1'41.659	0.034	0.005
6	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	5	1'41.740	0.115	0.081
7	Lando Norris	McLaren	5	1'41.813	0.188	0.073
8	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	5	1'41.932	0.307	0.119
9	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	6	1'42.106	0.481	0.174
10	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	5	1'42.195	0.570	0.089
11	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	5	1'42.224	0.599	0.029
12	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	6	1'42.273	0.648	0.049
13	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	5	1'42.558	0.933	0.285
14	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	6	1'42.587	0.962	0.029
15	George Russell	Williams	4	1'42.758	1.133	0.171
View full results

What happened in Q3?

In the top-10 shootout, Leclerc set the benchmark at 1m41.218s, thanks to a tow from Hamilton, 0.345s ahead of Verstappen.

After taking an extra warm-up lap, Hamilton received a tow from Bottas, his 1m41.450s being 0.232s off pole. Sainz was fourth, 0.358s off the pace, ahead of Norris and Perez. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly then jumped to P4 on his single-run strategy, 0.347s off pole.

On the second runs, Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas was anxious to get a tow, being stranded in P10. But that was rendered academic as Tsunoda and Sainz went off independently at Turn 4.

That left the order as Leclerc, Hamilton, Verstappen, Gasly, Sainz, Norris, Perez, Tsunoda, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and Bottas.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix Q3 results: Leclerc fastest from Hamilton

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	5	1'41.218
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	6	1'41.450	0.232	0.232
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	5	1'41.563	0.345	0.113
4	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	4	1'41.565	0.347	0.002
5	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	5	1'41.576	0.358	0.011
6	Lando Norris	McLaren	5	1'41.747	0.529	0.171
7	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	5	1'41.917	0.699	0.170
8	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	4	1'42.211	0.993	0.294
9	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	5	1'42.327	1.109	0.116
10	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	6	1'42.659	1.441	0.332
View full results

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	6	1'41.625
2	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	5	1'41.630	0.005	0.005
3	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	6	1'41.634	0.009	0.004
4	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	6	1'41.654	0.029	0.020
5	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	5	1'41.659	0.034	0.005
6	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	5	1'41.740	0.115	0.081
7	Lando Norris	McLaren	5	1'41.813	0.188	0.073
8	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	5	1'41.932	0.307	0.119
9	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	6	1'42.106	0.481	0.174
10	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	5	1'42.195	0.570	0.089
11	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	5	1'42.224	0.599	0.029
12	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	6	1'42.273	0.648	0.049
13	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	5	1'42.558	0.933	0.285
14	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	6	1'42.587	0.962	0.029
15	George Russell	Williams	4	1'42.758	1.133	0.171
View full results