Charles Leclerc continued his pole streak on the streets of Baku on Saturday (Sept. 14), winning his fourth straight pole at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Leclerc qualified right ahead of Oscar Piastri, with his fellow Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz starting third for the race.
“Tire management will be a big thing tomorrow,” Leclerc told Sky Sports. “We’ve got to do a good job. We did a really good job in Monza. [But] as I said, we have to reset every race that we do, that’s what we did [today].
“Tomorrow [Sunday, Sept. 15] is another race with other issues. Even though tire degradation is there, it’s with different tires. So you have to adapt to that, and we’ll do our homework tonight to get ready for tomorrow.”
The surprise of qualifying this weekend came early on. Lando Norris went a bit wide on his first hot lap of the day and ended up being knocked out in Q1.
Points leader Max Verstappen qualified in sixth. Norris will have to start from 17th as he continues to try and cut a 62-point gap from Verstappen in the closing months of the season.
Q3
While going out for his final lap, Alexander Albon’s Williams team might have forgotten a thing or two. He left the pit lane with the airbox still attached to the car.
Albon was able to make it back to the line safely but not in time to make one more fastest lap. He’s also been noted by the stewards for an unsafe release, which will almost certainly be a team fine.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Leader |
| 1. | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:41:365m |
| 2. | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | +0.321s |
| 3. | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +0.440s |
| 4. | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing RBPT | +0.448s |
| 5. | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.509s |
| 6. | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing RBPT | +0.658s |
| 7. | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.924s |
| 8. | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | +1.004s |
| 9. | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Williams Mercedes | +1.165s |
| 10. | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | +1.494s |
Q2
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 11. | 50 | Oliver Bearman | Haas Ferrari | +0.128s |
| 12. | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT | +0.195s |
| 13. | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | +0.339s |
| 14. | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | +0.351s |
| 15. | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | +0.563s |
Q1
With seven minutes remaining in the session, Sainz went in a little too deep in turn 2 and went into the run-off.
Sainz was able to back up and get back to pit road, advancing to the next round with no damage.
| Pos. | Driver No. | Driver | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 16. | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB Honda RBPT | +0.075s |
| 17. | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | +0.137s |
| 18. | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | KICK Sauber Ferrari | +0.146s |
| 19. | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | KICK Sauber Ferrari | +0.774s |
| 20. | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | +1.032s |
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is set for Sunday, Sept. 14. Lights out will come a little early this time around: 7 a.m. ET, with coverage on ESPN2.
Michael has watched NASCAR for 20 years and regularly covered the sport from 2013-2021, and also formerly covered the SRX series from 2021-2023. He now covers the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and road course events in the NASCAR Cup Series.