Azerbaijan GP: Leclerc clinches Pole amidst red flags and crashes

Alpine's Gasly Overcomes Fire, Only to Crash Again

Pierre Gasly's Alpine had caught fire during practice due to a hydraulic problem, but his team managed to repair the car just in time for the qualifying session.

However, Gasly's luck would not last, as he later clipped the barrier at the same corner that caught out AlphaTauri's Nyck de Vries, damaging the rear of his recently-repaired Alpine and bringing out a second red flag.

Nyck de Vries found himself in trouble when he locked up under braking for turn three on his first push lap, slamming into the barrier on the outside of the turn.

The front end of his AlphaTauri was heavily damaged, and the session was suspended with a red flag while the car was removed from the barrier.

Following a nearly 15-minute clean-up delay, the session resumed with just over 10 minutes left on the clock.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez fought for the top spot, with Verstappen eventually securing the lead by over three-and-a-half-tenths.

At the end of Q1, Zhou Guanyu, Nico Hulkenberg, Kevin Magnussen, Gasly, and De Vries were all eliminated.

Leclerc Emerges Victorious in Q3

As the top 10 shoot-out began, Red Bull and Ferrari emerged as the leading contenders.

While Perez initially set the fastest time, Verstappen soon beat him by a tenth of a second. Leclerc then tied Verstappen's time, but ultimately claimed provisional pole position by improving his lap time by almost a quarter of a second.

The final grid positions saw Leclerc on pole, followed by Verstappen, Perez, Carlos Sainz, and Lewis Hamilton.

Charles Leclerc was ecstatic about his first pole of the season, saying, "It feels amazing to be on pole. The team did a fantastic job, and I'm looking forward to the race tomorrow."

Azerbaijan Grand Prix Qualifying Results