Charles Leclerc snatched a second consecutive pole position after he overcame a chaotic Qualifying session to clinch pole for 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly emerged fastest after a disruptive FP3 but it eventually proved to be Leclerc who reigned supreme in Qualifying, following a chaotic session featuring four red flags as he benefitted from a lucky tow to take pole position.
Mercedes meanwhile bounced back from a difficult Friday using the tow method as Hamilton put himself right in the mix alongside title rival, Max Verstappen as Gasly put himself fourth on the grid in the clear dark horse of this weekend.
Now here is a full roundup of a epically crazy Saturday in Baku throughout the grid.
FP3
A quiet start saw Nikita Mazepin head Haas teammate, Mick Schumacher with Fernando Alonso soon afterwards splitting the pair.
Once everyone began to eventually venture out for their opening runs, Perez set the initial pace with 1m 44.165, until AlphaTauri unleashed early qualifying simulations with Gasly going top from Yuki Tsunoda on 1m 43.187.
Just moments later, Verstappen locked up at Turn 15 and ploughed into the barrier, thus ending his final practice session prematurely as he caused a nine minute red flag to allow his Red Bull to be safely removed.
Several drivers like Sebastian Vettel, Lance Stroll and Lando Norris eventually found time whereas others failed to do so in their first post red flag runs, amidst a scattering of yellow flags as Nicholas Latifi ran deep at Turn Three and George Russell suffered a water leak to trigger a brief Virtual Safety Car.
Russell consequently had to change his power unit which was lucky completed during the early stages of Qualifying after two red flags helped Williams in terms of time.
Those who opted to attempt their Qualifying simulations immediately following the resumption of this session were consequently caught out by the various cautions, as Gasly produced a late flier with 1m 42.251 to top the session from Sergio Perez by 0.344 seconds.
Lewis Hamilton endured a difficult session with grip and rear issues yet benefitted from Sergio Perez’s slipstream at the end to put himself third quickest, ahead of Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Norris, Alonso, Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 1m 42.251 |
| 2 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.344 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.446 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.527 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.755 |
| 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.760 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 0.829 |
| 8 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 0.993 |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.043 |
| 10 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | + 1.306 |
| 11 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | + 1.334 |
| 12 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.431 |
| 13 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | + 1.494 |
| 14 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | + 1.575 |
| 15 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 1.733 |
| 16 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 1.803 |
| 17 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | + 1.862 |
| 18 | George Russell | Williams | + 2.183 |
| 19 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 3.031 |
| 20 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | + 3.460 |
Qualifying
Q1
Several drivers swiftly ventured out in a bid to get in a banker lap in case of yellow flag disruption and red flags, yet only Leclerc managed to bank a lap after Stroll crashed at Turn 15 before retiring on the exit of Turn 16 to cause a 11 minute red flag as his Aston Martin was removed from the track.
Just minutes after the restart, Antonio Giovinazzi crashed heavily into Turn 15 to trigger a second red flag which lasted ten minutes, although ten drivers had managed to bank a lap time with Verstappen quickest on 1m 41.760 ahead of Perez by 0.208s.
Once the session resumed for a second time, there was no further trouble as Russell found himself in the bottom three after completed opening laps along with Schumacher and Mazepin, whilst Hamilton topped Q1 with 1m 41.545.
Russell though was able to force his way out of the elimination zone at the expense of his Williams teammate – Nicholas Latifi who was eliminated alongside Schumacher who improved his lap time to outqualify Mazepin.
Q2
Perez set the initial pace on 1m 41.630 after the opening runs only to be displaced by Verstappen who went 0.005s quicker on his second flier, putting the Dutchman at a disadvantage for the race after having done one extra lap than Perez as they plus Hamilton and Leclerc were split by 0.034s.
Tsunoda then slotted himself into fourth after initially finding himself 12th quickest behind Ocon but ahead of Ricciardo, Raikkonen and Russell in the five-driver elimination zone, which proved lucky as Ricciardo locked up and crashed at Turn Three on his final flier to prematurely end the session early.
Vettel therefore missed out on Q3 as he joined Ocon, Ricciardo, Raikkonen and Russell in the Q2 eliminations.
Q3
Mercedes and Ferrari unintentionally put their drivers in a sandwich tow for their opening runs which ultimately benefitted Leclerc, who posted a 1m 41.218 to go top from Verstappen and Sainz.
Hamilton and Bottas opted for to launch immediate second fliers with the latter providing Hamilton with a tow which proved beneficial as the reigning champion put himself second on the grid ahead of Verstappen.
AlphaTauri meanwhile decided to do just one run of two fliers which paid dividends with Tsunoda providing Gasly with a tow to put the Frenchman fourth on the grid and just 0.002s off Verstappen after their first flying laps, as they found themselves caught up in the pit-lane departing entourage.
Space therefore was difficult to find and the order was finalised with just one second left on the clock, as Tsunoda crashed into the barriers at Turn Three whilst Sainz went spinning down the escape road and demolished his front wing in the barriers.
Leclerc consequently inherited pole with Hamilton alongside him on the front row ahead of Verstappen, Gasly, Sainz, Norris, Perez, Tsunoda, Alonso and Bottas.
Norris post-race received a three place grid penalty to drop him to ninth after being adjudged to have breached red flag procedures in Q1, having done an extra lap after carrying too much speed upon entering the pit entry and swerving out to slow down on the main straight and go back around the track.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1m 41.218 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.232 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.345 |
| 4 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | + 0.347 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.358 |
| 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.529 |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.699 |
| 8 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 0.993 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 1.109 |
| 10 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | + 1.441 |
| 11 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 1m 42.224 |
| 12 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.049 |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | + 0.334 |
| 14 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | + 0.363 |
| 15 | George Russell | Williams | + 0.534 |
| 16 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 1m 43.128 |
| 17 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 1.030. |
| 18 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | + 1.110 |
| Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | No Time Set | |
| Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | No Time Set |
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