Qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix broke the unwanted record for the most red flags in an F1 session in history as Lewis Hamilton and McLaren endured a nightmare
F1 qualifying in Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix broke the unwanted record for the most red flags ever in a session that lasted almost two-and-a-half hours.
A chaotic qualifying session around the streets of the Azerbaijan capital saw six red flags from Q3 to Q1, including a potentially Championship-defining crash for Oscar Piastri in Q3. The previous record of red flags in a qualifying session was five.
The Aussie brought out the sixth red flag with just under four minutes left of the final session. Piastri missed the apex and locked the wheels at turn three, smashing straight into the barriers. The front right wheel of his McLaren was sheared off by the collision.
Piastri and all of the other drivers involved in the incidents reported they were unharmed and exited their cars.
The 24-year-old entered the weekend holding a 31-point lead over Lando Norris at the top of the drivers’ standings. The Brit was unable to make his chance count as he qualified only in P7 after brushing the wall, with Piastri in P9.
Max Verstappen showed his greatness again as he qualified on pole by almost half a second in a faultless session. Williams’ Carlos Sainz will line up alongside the four-time world champion on the front row.
Racing Bull’s Liam Lawson and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli on the second row at the end of a crazy qualifying.
It was another double disaster for Ferrari as Lewis Hamilton failed to get out of Q2, qualifying P12. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc caused the fifth red flag when he crashed at the start of Q3, and will start P10.
Speaking after his exit, Hamilton told Sky Sports: “Honestly, I’m so disappointed. Yesterday, the car was feeling good. Today, there was a direction that we ended up going that, on paper, looked like it was the best place for us to be.
“Ultimately, our pace has been good, we’ve been progressing, and I was feeling really on it, didn’t make any mistakes or go down any exit roads.
“It’s just that we didn’t have the right tyre on at the end. Everyone ahead of me basically had the medium tyre on. But I lost a medium tyre in FP2 due to our run plan schedule, and that put me on the back foot.”
The rest of the top 10 for Sunday’s Grand Prix sees George Russell, Mercedes, and Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull on the third row. Norris and Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls, on the fourth row. And Piastri and Leclerc on the fifth row.
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