Leclerc’s 1m41.697s proved unassailable in the eight-minute SQ3 race, while Perez and Verstappen’s second laps were unable to overthrow Monaco’s scorching pace around the Baku circuit.

The Red Bull duo were particularly eager to get out first in the closing stages of qualifying, sitting on the exit of the pit lane for a few minutes between races and immediately starting the initial headlines.

Perez topped the table with a time of 1m 41.876s, while Verstappen was unable to beat his team-mate’s effort, complaining that he “lost all the rear in the middle”.

Leclerc recovered his form from Friday and took his Ferrari across the finish line in 1m 41.697s to top the standings and challenge Red Bull once again.

Although Perez started to fight back, setting the best mid-race time and threatening to usurp Leclerc, he was unable to make a difference in the final stretch and was 0.15 seconds off Leclerc’s baseline.

Leclerc tried to make his time better, then he drove his Ferrari into the barrier at Turn 5, terrified the Ferrari garage, but only damaged his front wing and was able to push it out of the wall – endangering teammate cards Los Sainz’s thighs are in the works.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing, after qualifying at Parc Ferme

Photography: Mark Sutton/ motorsport pictures

Verstappen improved his time but was unable to get a place on Leclerc and Perez and will start the sprint race from third on the grid.

With Sainz unable to make any progress, George Russell passed the Spanish driver for fourth in the shortened Saturday’s race. His team-mate Lewis Hamilton started from sixth on the grid, sharing the third row with Sainz.

Carrying his Williams all the way to SQ3, Alex Albon will start the sprint from seventh, ahead of Fernando Alonso, who is suffering from ongoing DRS problems at Aston Martin. Lance Stroll was ninth, while Lando Norris was unable to run in SQ3 because there were no softs left.

The rules mandate a new set of soft tires, but McLaren decided to sacrifice a potential SQ3 appearance on Friday and use them for his Q3 laps – leaving him second in Sunday’s race. seventh place.

Oscar Piastri failed to make it to the closing stages of qualifying, despite finishing in the top 10 at the end of SQ2, 0.03 seconds behind teammate Norris.

But Stroll showed great teamwork at Aston Martin, taking a tow from Alonso to push the Canadian into the top ten at the expense of Piastri.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23

Photography: Simon Galloway/ motorsport pictures

Nico Hulkenberg overcame a near wall at Turn 7 to keep the lock up front and moved up to 12th as Haas didn’t have enough speed to provide a coordinated challenge for SQ3.

Esteban Ocon was only 13th fastest in a tough training session for the Alpine team, despite being three tenths ahead of Kevin Magnussen.

With 30 seconds left in SQ1, Logan Sargeant crashed into the wall at Turn 15, effectively freezing the order for the opening 12 minutes of the race, in the process breaking the rear right of the Williams horn.

Sargeant was 11th, but he was unable to continue the race given the extent of the damage – the American cites “a Ferrari in the middle of the road at the exit of the old town”.

This prevented Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas’ Alfa Romeo from breaking out of the bottom five. But the timing of the red flag was more brutal for Yuki Kakuda, who qualified in the top 10 for Sunday’s Grand Prix and was expected to improve his lap time before the race came to a halt on the final straight.

Pierre Gasly came into the pits after the initial race and was therefore 19th – only saved from bottom by Nyck de Vries. The Dutchman had a tough ride, going deep again at Turn 3 – but this time, he avoided the wall and managed to reverse.

F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying Results