Charles Leclerc put a bad start to the 2023 season behind him by ending Red Bull’s reign of dominance in qualifying with a stunning final lap to secure a hat trick of poles in Baku.
Max Verstappen couldn’t deny his former karting rival qualifying second with Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz sharing row two. Lewis Hamilton will start fifth on the grid for Sunday’s race.
Fernando Alonso could only manage sixth in front of Lando Norris and Yuki Tsunoda, who secured his first Q3 appearance of 2023, with Lance Stroll and Oscar Piastri rounding off the top 10.
Nyck de Vries gave his AlphaTauri mechanics plenty of headaches after crashing in Q1, bringing out the red flag and consigning him to last on the grid for Sunday’s race.
His AlphaTauri successor Pierre Gasly also joined him in the wall after suffering brake issues at Turn 3, slamming into the wall and ending his qualifying early.
F1 2023 Azerbaijan GP – Qualifying Results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:40.203 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.188 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | +0.292 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +0.813 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.974 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +1.050 |
| 7 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +1.078 |
| 8 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | +1.378 |
| 9 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +1.408 |
| 10 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +1.408 |
| 11 | George Russell | Mercedes | Eliminated in Q2 |
| 12 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | Eliminated in Q2 |
| 13 | Alex Albon | Williams | Eliminated in Q2 |
| 14 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | Eliminated in Q2 |
| 15 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | Eliminated in Q2 |
| 16 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | Eliminated in Q1 |
| 17 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | Eliminated in Q1 |
| 18 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | Eliminated in Q1 |
| 19 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | Eliminated in Q1 |
| 20 | Nyck de Vries | AlphaTauri | Eliminated in Q1 |
