BAKU, Sept 14 (Askume) – Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for the fourth consecutive year on Saturday while McLaren title contender Lando Norris endured a difficult qualifying session after a poor experience , originally starting from 17th.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Leclerc were on the front row, while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez were on the second row.
World champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing is sixth on 62 points ahead of Norris with eight rounds remaining, while George Russell of Mercedes is fifth.
Pole position was Leclerc’s 26th career win and third of the season, but he has yet to convert top spot into victory in Baku, where champions Red Bull have won for the third year in a row.
“This is my favourite circuit of the season, I like it a lot,” said the Monegasque, who won the last race in Italy but fell during practice in Baku on Friday.
“On the last lap I tried a little bit more and got a really good lap time. The car was really good, everything was great and it was great to get pole position.
“Hopefully we can have a team race tomorrow and win… In the past we have been strong in qualifying but struggled a bit in the race. This year we have a strong car, so I hope we can win tomorrow.
Leclerc’s time was 1 minute 41.365 seconds, 0.321 faster than Piastri’s best time.
The Australian was third after a flying first lap, while the Ferrari was second but picked up some pace in the final attempt.
“On the last lap I was a bit close to the wall; just trying to make the best use of it,” said Piastri, who last week agreed to follow team orders to help Norris but is now unlikely to be in a position to ask.
“This track rewards commitment and on the last lap of Q3 I knew I had nothing to lose so I tried to maximise the performance of the car.”
Unlucky Norris
After crossing the first hurdle, Norris could only watch as a spectator when the yellow flag appeared briefly at the end of the first stage, ruining his final attempt to break into the top five.
“Everyone did a second lap but not me,” he told Sky Sports.
“Unfortunately, that’s it. I had to get up.”
“The race is still long, we have some good tyres and I still hope we can get a good result. I thought the car was fast. It’s a bit disappointing but there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Norris is likely to move up a place as Alpine driver Pierre Gasly, who was 13th on the grid during qualifying, was stopped by the stewards due to irregular fuel flow.
McLaren chief executive Andrea Stella said the team was discussing with the FIA why Esteban Ocon’s Alpine was shown the yellow flag without stopping.
“Ideally, I think this shouldn’t happen under the rules. We paid the price for it, but we did not give up,” he said.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton finished seventh, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso eighth and Williams’ Argentines Franco Colapinto and Alex Albon were ninth and tenth respectively.
Albon’s hopes of progressing were dashed when he emerged from the pits with a yellow cooling fan stuck in the car’s airbox.
He stopped, removed the weight from behind his head and threw it to the side of the track, but missed a chance to do so on the final lap.
“I’m not criticising the team. I think sometimes things like this can happen, we just have to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” the Thai player said.
