Max Verstappen overcame six red flags to snatch pole position for the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
McLaren’s Lando Norris topped FP3 but a crazy Qualifying session saw the Brit qualify seventh after a mistake on his final Q3 lap, as Verstappen snatched pole position from Williams’ Carlos Sainz in a session marked by a record six red flags.
FP3
A quiet start to FP3 saw Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar do installation laps, whilst Haas’ Oliver Bearman ran deep down an escape road on his initial flier on the hard tyre.
Bearman subsequently set 1m 47.333 as the representative benchmark time on his flier and proceeded to lower the time to 1m 45.724, before he exchanged fastest laps with Piastri until Norris set 1m 43.640 in the 24th minute to go fastest.
Leclerc barely a minute later lowered the benchmark to 1m 43.048, but it was Lewis Hamilton at the halfway mark who found himself quickest with 2.988 set in the 28th minute.
Everyone however continued to find time on successive flying laps as Piastri on the half-hour mark displaced Hamilton with 1m 42.726, only for Leclerc to twice lower the benchmark to 1m 42.328 with 19 minutes left.
Red Bull’s Verstappen then went quickest in the 42nd minute with 1m 41.727 which stood until 11 minutes left, when Norris produced 1m 41,223 to top the session ahead of the Dutchman who settled for 0.222 seconds shy in second ahead of Piastri and Hamilton.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was the only driver to not set his fastest lap on the soft tyre, as he finished slowest on the medium tyre.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1m 41.223 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.222 |
| 3 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.254 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.276 |
| 5 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.686 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.760 |
| 7 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.760 |
| 8 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 0.762 |
| 9 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 0.923 |
| 10 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.986 |
| 11 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | + 1.044 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | + 1.205 |
| 13 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 1.263 |
| 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 1.368 |
| 15 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 1.566 |
| 16 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | + 1.617 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 1.645 |
| 18 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | + 1.837 |
| 19 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 2.099 |
| 20 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 2.127 |
Qualifying
Q1
Albon was first on track and set 1m 43.778 as the initial benchmark on soft tyres but his time was usurped by several drivers, as Leclerc went quickest with 1m 41.982 in the sixth minute.
Albon however brought the red flag out with 11 minutes and 33s left on the clock after he clipped the inside barrier of Turn 1 to break his front-left suspension.
The session resumed after a nine minute delay as Hamilton went fastest with 1m 41.821 in the 12th minute, but the red flags were back out with six minutes and 36s left on the clock after Hulkenberg hit the barrier at Turn 4 and lost his front wing – although he was able to return to the pits under his own power.
As Q1 resumed for a second time, Stroll, Albon, Bortoleto and Hulkenberg were in the elimination zone alongside Antonelli, although the Italian hadn’t set a lap time after he ran wide at Turn 16 albeit after he was caught out by the initial red flag for Albon’s accident.
As the checkered flag fell, Alpine’s Gasly and Colapinto caused a red flag as the Frenchman ran deep at Turn 4, before his Argentinean teammate clattered into the barriers on the exit of that very corner after the rear slid out from under him.
Colapinto’s error consequently saw him qualify 16th just ahead of Hulkenberg and Ocon, whilst Gasly qualified second-last ahead of Albon.
Norris meanwhile topped the segment with 1m 41.322 and just 0.009s clear of Verstappen.
Ocon however was disqualified post-session for a breach of rear wing main plane tip deflection regulations, as his rear wing was found to be 0.6mm on the left side and 0.825mm on the right side, which both exceeded the 0.5mm allowance.
Gasly and Albon consequently were both promoted one position each to 18th and 19th respectively on the grid.
Q2
Sainz was first out on track but the session was red flagged with barely three minutes gone after Bearman clipped the outside barriers of Turn 2, which caused the segment to be stopped with 11 minutes and 54s left on the clock.
The segment resumed seven minutes later and Bortoleto set 1m 43.214 as the initial benchmark but Norris displaced him with 1m 41.396 to head the order into the final minutes.
As the checkered flag fell, Stroll finished slowest of the timed runners in 14th position and will line up behind Bortoleto who qualified 13th.
Hamilton failed to extract pace from his Ferrari and found himself unexpectedly eliminated in 12th position after he didn’t have enough time for a final flier, and will line up on the sixth row behind Alonso.
Verstappen topped Q2 with 1m 41.255 on his final flier.
Q3
Lawson was the first driver out on track but as he began his first flier, rain began to fall for the first time in a F1 session around the streets of Baku as he set 1m 42.560 as the initial benchmark.
Sainz on medium tyres beat the Kiwi’s lap time by 0.965s to go onto provisional pole with 1m 41.595 whilst Hadjar found himself third quickest, as the red flags came out with seven minutes and seven seconds left on the clock after Leclerc locked up at Turn 15 and slid into the barriers.
Leclerc’s stoppage meant that this session equalled the record for most red flags in a F1 Qualifying session (jointly held by 2022 Emilia Romagna and 2024 Sao Paulo Grands Prix).
Q3 resumed after a 14-minute pause with Verstappen first out of the pit lane but he couldn’t set a lap time as the red flags came out with three minutes and 41s left, after Piastri locked up into Turn 3 and went straight into the barriers, which set a record for most red flags in Qualifying.
The segment resumed 14 minutes later with Norris first to exit the pit lane but he clipped the wall at Turn 15 whilst Verstappen set 1m 41.117 to take pole position from Sainz.
Lawson settled for third ahead of; Antonelli, Russell, Tsunoda, Norris and Hadjar.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 41.117 |
| 2 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 0.478 |
| 3 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 0.590 |
| 4 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.600 |
| 5 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.953 |
| 6 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | + 1.026 |
| 7 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.122 |
| 8 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | + 1.255 |
| 9 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | No Time |
| 10 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | No Time |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1m 41.857 |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.326 |
| 13 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | + 0.420 |
| 14 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.204 |
| 15 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | No Time |
| 16 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 1m 42.779 |
| 17 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | + 0.137 |
| 18* | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 0.225 |
| 19 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.360 |
| 20 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.999 |
*Ocon was disqualified post session for failing the rear wing main plane tip deflection test.
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