The qualifying session held this Saturday in Azerbaijan will remain in F1 memory as the longest one ever. It took a full two hours to decree the starting order for the GP, all because of the six red flags that interrupted the session as many times. The victims of Baku's ferocious walls between Q1 and Q2 were Alex Albon (Williams), Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber), Franco Colapinto (Alpine) and Oliver Bearman (Haas), then, in the decisive phase, the honour went to two big names like Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who made an error at Turn 15, almost a copy and paste of what happened in 2019 at Turn 8, and overall leader Oscar Piastri (McLaren).
In the face of this resounding carnage, Max Verstappen was not unprepared, and with a time of 1'41.117, the Dutchman placed his Red Bull ahead of everyone, edging out a surprising Carlos Sainz (Williams) and former teammate Liam Lawson now with Racing Bulls. Like Friday, Mercedes appeared in good form, with Andrea Antonelli fourth ahead of George Russell. Sixth place went to the RB21 of a revived Yuki Tsunoda, while only seventh can be found Lando Norris; the Brit was not exempt from a thrilling moment either such as the slight kiss to the wall in his last useful attempt, which, although it did not take him out, clearly penalized him in the timesheets. Eighth time finally went to Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls), by now a constant presence in the top 10.
Worthy of note is the second piece of bad news for the Prancing Horse manufacturer, namely the exit of Lewis Hamilton in Q2. The Ferrari driver admitted that he made the wrong choice of tyres, but he was however optimistic ahead of the GP thanks to the good pace he kept in the long runs.
"It was a very long qualifying and that complicated the tyre management. On the last lap I didn't have the right compound, but it went well. I am happy with the improvement I've had since Monza," were the words of the poleman.
"I always had the right tyres and this allowed me to get the second position and do good laps. Tomorrow the goal is the podium. I will give my best to achieve it," commented the former Maranello man.
"I can't even remember what happened. I was too busy. I honestly didn't expect so much, but the car performed well all weekend and I thank the team for that. I will start from a very good position, but I am aware of who our direct opponents will be," was Liam's declaration.
For the report and details here is the link to Motorsport.com.
