BAKU CITY, Azerbaijan — Max Verstappen denied Carlos Sainz what would have been a surprising pole position during qualifying Saturday for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver claimed back-to-back pole positions after a thrilling Qualifying session which was impacted by an F1 record of six red flags, the final one having huge ramifications on the final order.
“I am really happy with our performance today and it was enjoyable, once I crossed the line! Of course, there was a lot of interruption and it was difficult to get a rhythm with the red flags throughout the whole session,” Verstappen said. “This lap is hard to nail and it is not always easy to go on the limit, it is so easy to make a mistake with such unpredictable conditions. I was really happy with how Q1 and Q2 was going and I felt good every time I went out and comfortable with the car. Q3 was such a long wait and difficult to choose the medium or the soft tires and it was all down to the last lap.
“We ended up on the soft tire for the final lap, which wasn’t my favorite and the only new tyre we had. You had to commit, not fully knowing the grip levels out there. However, we nailed the lap and it was a big achievement for us to get pole. For tomorrow, I was happy with the long runs over this weekend so I am hoping that we can put in a similar positive performance.”
With Sainz, Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar having set laps in Q3 and drops of rain starting to fall, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc hit the barrier at Turn 15 to bring out the red flag and prevent anyone else from finishing a lap time.
When the session resumed, Lando Norris and Verstappen were setting fastest sector times but dramatically, point leader Oscar Piastri hit the barrier at Turn 3 to cause another stoppage with less than four minutes left on the clock.
With the green light back on, track conditions were far from their optimal and drivers scrambled to find the grip, with Verstappen setting a 1m 41.117s to deny Sainz pole by just under half a second.
Lawson improved with his second lap to remain third, ahead of the Mercedes cars of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell and the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda.
