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Charles Leclerc clinched pole position at the 2022 F1 Azerbaijan GP in fashion and beat the Red Bulls of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen in the process. The qualifying session featured varied strategies as cars with different setups tried to place themselves perfectly on the track and gain whatever advantage they could with tows from other drivers.
Both Red Bull and Ferrari went at it in qualifying. In the end, however, Charles Leclerc was almost three-tenths quicker than Perez. Verstappen, on the other hand, qualified in third, while Carlos Sainz had a scruffy last lap that left him in fourth place for the Azerbaijan GP.
George Russell dragged every inch of performance out of his car and placed it in fifth. After him, Pierre Gasly will start in P6 for AlphaTauri tomorrow. Lewis Hamilton qualified in P7, once again losing out to his teammate and just ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in P8. Sebastian Vettel once again managed to drag a good result out of his car and qualified in P9, ahead of the skinny rear-winged Alpine of Fernando Alonso to round off the top 10.
So, in case you missed it, here's what happened.
2022 F1 Azerbaijan GP: Here's what happened!
#1 Charles Leclerc secured his sixth pole position of the season
Competition was tight between Ferrari and Red Bull in Q1 and Q2. While Charles Leclerc topped Q1, Sergio Perez topped Q2. Even after the first Q3 runs, it was Carlos Sainz who was at the top of the standings. It was on the final run in Q3 that the Monegasque hooked up the perfect lap in Baku and denied Red Bull's Sergio Perez the pole.
While the Austrian team is anticipated to have a better race pace, it will be interesting to see how Leclerc overcomes that hurdle.
#2 McLaren had a dismal qualifying session
After FP3, it appeared as though McLaren had finally made some good strides. Both the drivers were in P5 and P6 at the end of the session and even though the car was not quick on the straights, it still had pace.
However, that was not the case in qualifying. Both Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo got eliminated in Q2 itself. The latter sounded especially distraught on the team radio.
However, all might not be lost for the British team, as it allegedly opted to go for a setup that leaned towards a better race pace. Only time will tell if that really was the case.
#3 AlphaTauri secured its best-ever result
AlphaTauri showed great form in Baku by qualifying in P6 (Pierre Gasly) and P8 (Yuki Tsunoda). The team was strong in Monaco as well, but could not replicate its impressive practice pace when it mattered. Thankfully, that does not seem to be the case over the Azerbaijan GP weekend. The Italian team outqualified one of the Mercedes as well. AlphaTauri is clearly the fourth fastest car at the Azerbaijan GP and that is very impressive for the team.
#4 Both Alfa Romeos were knocked out of Q2
Alfa Romeo had an unexplainable qualifying session as both cars suffered from a distinct lack of speed, especially Valtteri Bottas. The Finnish driver was nowhere to be seen when it came to competitiveness against his teammate, which was a surprise because he had never been outqualified by Zhou until today's qualifying session. Overall, this was a disappointing session for Alfa Romeo.
#5 Lewis Hamilton qualifies in P7 but is under investigation for driving below delta time on his preparation lap
Lewis Hamilton had another disappointing outing as he qualified in seventh place for the Azerbaijan GP. That's not all, this was the third weekend in a row where Hamilton was outqualified by his teammate George Russell, who himself qualified in P5 for the Azerbaijan GP.
To make matters worse, the seven-time world champion is under investigation for driving unnecessarily slowly on the track. While the replay was shown and it did appear as though this was the case, it remains to be seen what the course of action the stewards will take. Could the Mercedes driver face a grid penalty for the Azerbaijan GP? Despite being highly unlikely, it's worth keeping an eye on it!
Catch the drivers and teams on Sunday, June 12, 2022, in Baku.
