What a thrilling qualifying session that was. Baku always delivers. As expected, the qualifying session was filled with yellow flags for a tight street circuit like Baku.
As all cars lined up for Q1, trying to set a decent time to get out of the danger zone, it was already traffic paradise in turn 16. But that didn't stop the drivers to set some flying time on the charts.
With 2 minutes 30 seconds on the clock, the session was red-flagged as Stroll hit the barriers at turn 2 and damaged his front wing. This red was a potential threat to the bottom 5 who were yet to set time to get out of the elimination zone. That crash was the end of his session.
The track was cleared and a 3-minute warning was issued by the FIA to resume the Q1 session.
Even before the green light, all cars were already lined up at the end of the pit lane trying to salvage any remaining time they have left to get out of Q1.
The bottom five drivers who got knocked out of Q1 were KMag, Albon, Latifi, Stroll and Mick.
15 cars lined up for Q2, a clean q2 session and there were some occasional yellow flags.
Vettel hit his Aston at the barriers at turn 15 but managed to reverse and get into the pits with minimal damage.
A small scary moment for Charles as he slightly brushes against the barriers at the closing stages of Q2.
The next five drivers to get knocked out of Q2 were Norris, Ricciardo, Ocon, Zhou and Bottas.
The fight for pole is on. Top ten cars on the track trying to beat each other and grab the highest grid position they can. By the end of Q3, Carlos Sainz held the provisional pole. But There was time for one more round of flying lap and Charles Leclerc did fly. He went purple in all three sectors, beating his teammate in the provisional pole position. Both Red Bull behind the Ferraris, but for the second time this season, Perez out qualified Max Verstappen and secured P3 followed by Max in P3 and Carlos in P4.
Sebastian Vettel on the other hand had an amazing session, as he managed to drag his Aston into Q3 despite his small crash and secured p9.
It was a thrilling qualifying indeed. Things can change very fast during a race. Baku always delivers unexpected podiums every year. Will Baku have another unexpected podium this year and carry on its tradition? we will have to wait and find out.
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