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The Baku City Circuit is known for being a challenge for the drivers with it's tight corners and high speed straights. The 2025 season is looking to be no different with the session seeing 6 red flags which is the MOST in Formula 1 qualifying history. Max Verstappen claims pole in Baku for Red Bull ahead of the Williams of Carlos Sainz and the Racing Bull of Liam Lawson.
Here are our top highlights from Azerbaijan Grand Prix Qualifying.
Radio of the day - Yes Boss
You know, Kimi, You have tonnes of time. Just needs 6 and a half minutes, just one clean lap.
Toto Wolff, came onto the radio to provide Kimi Antonelli with some inspiring words ahead of the end of the Q1 session. Antonelli was struggling slightly and looking to be on the back foot in comparison to his teammate, George Russell. Wolff is known to get himself involved int he radio messages, every now and then popping in to give his drivers some encouragement or words of wisdom.
Antonelli has been having a season filled with highs and lows. The Italian driver claimed his first career podium in Montreal to take P3 alongside his teammate and Max Verstappen. The early races in the season were looking promising with Antonelli claiming consistent points, but one bad result started to come after another with the Mercedes driver DNFing and failing to secure even a P10. The future of his career with Mercedes has definitely been questioned, but Wolff and Russell have backed the young driver and continued to protect him from the media.
Honorable Mentions
Mate, it's definitley too slippery. Now Russell went straight, it's raining!
Max Verstappen to his team moments before Charles Leclerc went into the wall during Q3.
The track is so slippery. The white lines are ice.
Kimi Antonelli as the fifth red flag of the session was called following Leclerc's crash in Q3.
Top moments from each session.
Q1: Albon and Gasly bring out the red flag
Alex Albon was looking strong throughout the practice sessions and early on in Q1. Despite showing some speed, the Thai driver tapped the wall, wrecking the barrier but more importantly, wrecking his car. The yellow flag was brought it and then shortly after the stewards brought out the red flag. This paused Q1 briefly as the marshals scrambled to repair the barrier and bring the Williams back to it's respective garage. Pierre Gasly narrowly missed the entry into Turn 4, using the escape route to eliminate the risk of damage to his Alpine car. This brought out the yellow flag but to everyone's surprise, it turned into a red flag. The broadcast then showed Gasly's teammate, Franco Colapinto, going into the wall at Turn 4, crashing his car into the barrier and eliminating any chance of making it into Q2. Flavio Briatore continues to back Colapinto and has outwardly said he is one of the contenders for the second seat despite is mediocre and arguably sub-par performance throughout the season.
Eliminated in Q1 included: Franco Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon.
Q2: Bearman taps the wall
Oliver Bearman went into the wall early on in the Q2 session. His team asked if the car was ok and the young British driver responded by saying:
I don't think so. It's broken.
Bearman has been looking quicker than his Haas teammate, Esteban Ocon, all weekend long, but took himself out of the running for Q3 as he brushed the barrier. Bearman currently has 10 penalty points, putting him at risk for a race ban if he gets himself into trouble later on in the season. This is quite an impressive (not in a good way) stat for a rookie to already be at 10 penalty points in his first season and only at Round 17 of the 2025 season.
Eliminated drivers included Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Gabriel Bortoleto, Lance Stroll and Ollie Bearman.
Q3: Leclerc and Piastri go into the wall as Verstappen claims pole
Charles Leclerc went into the wall with 7 minutes left in Q3. The Monegasque driver just did not have enough grip to slow down and turn into the corner and unfortunately, put his Ferrari into the wall causing the fifth red flag of the qualifying session in Azerbaijan. This was moments after Max Verstappen came on to the radio to tell his team that it had started raining and the track was getting way too slippery. Numerous drivers have been struggling this qualifying session with Leclerc bringing out the fifth red flag. The commentators response to this was a simple:
When Baku bites, it bites hard.
At the session restart, Oscar Piastri went into the barrier at Turn 3. This caused the 6th red flag of the session, and eliminated the Aussie's chances of getting pole position in Azerbaijan. Piastri is one of the least-accident prone drivers on the grid, so his McLaren team looks shocked at the surprise crash into the barriers. Piastri's red flag was the 6th of the qualifying session, making it the most red flags seen in a qualifying session in Formula 1 history.
Max Verstappen came home to take a much deserved pole position in Baku after an almost two hour long qualifying session. To the surprise of everyone, Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson rounded out the top three ahead of Lando Norris and both of the Mercedes drivers. This proved to be a very challenging and unique qualifying session yet Verstappen once again was able to put his dominance on display!
Temperature check
Who rose above expectations? And who flopped? Here’s our temperature check for the Azerbaijan GP:
Sizzling - Carlos Sainz. Sainz has had a difficult season so far with Williams, always looking to just slightly fall short of a solid result. That was NOT the case today with the Spaniard putting his Williams in P2 on the grid for the Grand Prix on Sunday.
Ice cold - Franco Colapinto. Franco Colapinto has not had a very successful season since taking over the seat from Jack Doohan ahead of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in May. The Argentinian driver put his Alpine into the wall at the end of Q1, eliminating his chances of making Q2 and giving his mechanics a challenge ahead of the Grand Prix on Sunday.
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