Charles Leclerc has taken his fourth back-to-back pole position in Baku ahead of his teammate Carlos Sainz in P3 and Oscar Piastri in P2.
Leclerc’s blistering lap, a 1:41.365, put him three-tenths ahead of Piastri. Although Leclerc has never won in Azerbaijan, this is the fourth time he has taken pole position at the venue after taking the top qualifying position in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
The session wasn’t without drama though, as a shock Q1 elimination for title-contender Lando Norris means he will start tomorrow’s grand prix in P17. With a current 62-point gap to Verstappen in the championship standings, Norris will no doubt be hoping to make it back into the points positions on Sunday.
Despite both Red Bull cars showing promising pace in free practice sessions, they had to settle for P4 and P6 respectively with Max Verstappen being out qualified by his teammate Sergio Perez for the first time this year.
Both Williams cars also made it through to Q3, with an incredible showing from rookie Franco Colapinto who qualified P9 ahead of his teammate Alex Albon in P10. Albon’s second Q3 run was compromised by an airbox fan which was still attached to the car as he exited the pit lane. While he was able to detach the fan and push it clear of the car, the time this took meant that he was unable to complete another push lap.
Oliver Bearman, filling in for a race-banned Kevin Magnussen, was frustrated to be eliminated in Q2 – putting him P11 after being just one-tenth down on Alex Albon ahead of him. The rookie showed promising pace throughout the session and out qualified his teammate Nico Hulkenberg in P14.
The full qualifying order can be found below:
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:41.365 |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:41.686 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:41.805 |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1:41.813 |
| 5 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:41.874 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:42.023 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:42.289 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:42.369 |
| 9 | Franco Colapinto | Williams | 1:42.530 |
| 10 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1:42.859 |
| 11 | OIiver Bearman | Haas | 1:42.968 |
| 12 | Yuki Tsunoda | Visa Cash App RB | 1:43.035 |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:43.179 |
| 14 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 1:43.191 |
| 15 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:43.404 |
| 16 | Daniel Ricciardo | Visa Cash App RB | 1:43.547 |
| 17 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:43.609 |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber | 1:43.618 |
| 19 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber | 1:44.246 |
| 20 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:44.504 |
