Charles Leclerc became the first driver to claim pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix more than once with a brilliant final flying lap in Baku.
The Ferrari man has been F1’s recent king of qualifying without being able to go on and win the race, but he has another ideal opportunity to gain a first victory since round three of the season in Australia.
Sergio Perez will line up alongside Leclerc on the front row, ahead of his team-mate Max Verstappen and the other Ferrari driven by Carlos Sainz.
Qualifying began 15 minutes later than originally planned as a knock-on effect of a Formula 2 incident, with barrier repairs needed at Turn 1 which delayed FP3 by a quarter of an hour. With the sun starting to set in Baku, it meant any red flags would be something of a concern in terms of daylight – although track temperatures were dropping to improve grip.
Lewis Hamilton reported on team radio early in Q1 he had a soft brake pedal, while his Mercedes team-mate George Russell accused Verstappen of “driving erratically” as they jockeyed for track position.
Only 12th in FP2 and FP3, Hamilton was down in 14th approaching the final runs of Q1, but moved up to eighth just before yellow flags came out as Lance Stroll rolled his Aston Martin into the barrier and feared he had sustained front-wing damage.
There was worse to come for the Canadian, however, as a heavier impact at Turn 2 on his next lap – he had not entered the pits – brought out red flags with two-and-a-half minutes left on the clock and confirmed him as the session’s first casualty.
One last dash on one of the season’s longest circuits was possible for those in the danger zone, but a pit-lane traffic jam built up and compromised the hopes of those at the tail end of setting a faster time.
Everyone made it round before the chequered flag though, and that gave Valtteri Bottas the opportunity to avoid a first Q1 exit for seven years by knocking out Kevin Magnussen – whose Haas team-mate…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at News – PlanetF1…