Azerbaijan GP - QualifyingSainz brushes the pole in Baku in a crazy qualifying
The Madrid native had the pole in his hands until the last breath, but it was Max Verstappen who stole his dream of achieving his first pole with the Williams team. The session was interrupted with up to six red flags.
Baku is always synonymous with madness in racing, but from today in qualifying, also entering the history of motorsport both worldwide and Spanish.
Carlos Sainz was close to making history and signing the pole in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but it was Max Verstappen who extracted the best from the qualifying session, in mixed conditions, keeping us on the edge until the end.
The World Championship leader, Oscar Piastri, will start ninth after hitting the barriers, but his rival will not start far behind. Norris will start from seventh place, complicating McLaren's strategy this weekend. Alonso narrowly missed Q3 and will start eleventh.
Q1: Red flags dominate the qualifying
The wall in Baku attracts like a magnet, and Alex Albon was the first to test it. The Thai driver got too close on the inside of turn 1, hitting with the left front wheel and damaging his suspension, causing the first red flag after seven minutes. Leclerc was in the lead, ahead of Verstappen and Norris, both on medium tires, along with Tsunoda and Piastri.
Some drivers opted to copy that strategy with the resumption of Q1. Russell, Alonso, Hadjar, Colapinto, or Antonelli were among them. Tsunoda and Piastri climbed positions into the top-5, and Hamilton, on softs, took the lead, but they were among the few who could set a time, as the session was interrupted again with a red flag after a crash by Nico Hülkenberg against the wall at turn 7, leaving pieces of his Sauber on track despite being able to return to the pits. There were 6:36 left in the session.
That little time before the checkered flag, on a circuit of more than a minute and a half, caused queues and rushes in the pit lane. The medium tire was working, and Hadjar, for example, was in fifth place. It also worked for the Aston Martins, with Stroll eighth and Alonso ninth, barely saving Q2, as just after Alonso crossed the line, we had the third red flag. This time it was Colapinto, who crashed hard into the wall at the exit of turn 7, while his teammate Pierre Gasly was in the escape road. Both were in the elimination zone.
Q2: Hamilton falls again
The tire strategy from Q1 was repeated in Q2, with disparate decisions. Alonso, Sainz, and Bearman started on medium tires, while the rest were on soft tires. But we were still on the same line, starting Q2 with a red flag after a touch by Bearman with the wall.
The Williams was working with the medium tire, and Carlos Sainz's time proved it, setting a 1:41.6, the fastest until Lando Norris arrived, on softs, who set a 1:41.3. Piastri and the two Mercedes also surpassed him, while the Ferraris were struggling.
Leclerc went off into the escape road at turn 1 on his first attempt, causing a yellow flag that disrupted Hamilton. Verstappen was less than a tenth behind Norris on mediums, while Alonso took it easy.
Leclerc couldn't afford to relax. With mistakes on his fast laps, he opted for medium tires, while Norris also chose that tire, but Hamilton stuck with the soft tire from the start. He couldn't set a good time, finishing tenth and at the mercy of the drivers behind him. Unfortunately for him, they were Leclerc and Alonso, who improved with two minutes to go, eliminating the seven-time champion. He arrived as one of the drivers to watch, and tomorrow he will have to fight.
Alonso was also in limbo, but he was eliminated after Tsunoda's improvement, who made it into Q3, along with Sainz and the two Racing Bulls of Hadjar and Lawson.
Q3: Madness in qualifying
Only Lawson and Hadjar opted for softs; the rest went for mediums. But all eyes were on the sky, as light drops began to fall and increased. Russell tested it with a spin, and Verstappen warned that the track was very slippery. This played in favor of Sainz, who set a 1:41.5, being the only one with a time along with the Racing Bulls. But the Madrid native was in the lead.
Luck smiled on Sainz, as Leclerc also fell victim to the rain, ending up in the wall at turn 16, causing the red flag that, with 7 minutes to go, gave a provisional pole to Carlos Sainz. The Madrid native encouraged his mechanics to dance the rain dance.
It wasn't effective, as the rain didn't last, and the sun came out. But once again, fortune favored the Madrid native. Before Verstappen and Norris could shatter his record, Piastri ended up in the wall at turn 3, bringing out another red flag, the sixth in this qualifying session, thus achieving the record for qualifying with the most red flags.
3:41 to go. Perhaps it was the last attempt if there was no other red flag. The drops of rain did not cease, and the times did not improve significantly. And Sainz, on mediums, set a record in the first sector, although Verstappen stole it. Norris touched the wall at turn 16, but still couldn't beat Sainz. Russell couldn't either, surpassing Norris.
Sainz did not improve his time, Lawson was second behind Sainz, Antonelli third, and everything was in Verstappen's hands. The Dutchman did not fail, and by half a second, he left Sainz without a historic pole.
Carlos Sainz's first row, almost pole today, has been historic. And although many things can happen on the Baku circuit, Williams' race pace allows us to dream. Tomorrow could be a great day.
Fotos: Williams Media / Red Bull Content Pool / Ferrari Media