F1 Qualifying Results: SIX red flags cause chaos as Oscar Piastri crashes out in Baku

Oscar Piastri looks upset in front of a red flag — Photo: © IMAGO

Azerbaijan Grand Prix

F1 Qualifying Results: SIX red flags cause chaos as Oscar Piastri crashes out in Baku

All the qualifying results

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 20 September 2025 16:11 Updated: 11:45

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F1 championship leader Oscar Piastri crashed out of qualifying as Max Verstappen claimed pole position in a record-breaking qualifying session with SIX red flags.

As drivers fell around him, the Dutchman came through to take pole for Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with Carlos Sainz taking a surprise second behind him.

In a qualifying session that saw the most red flags ever, Liam Lawson put his Racing Bull in third, with the two Mercedes drivers rounding out the top five.

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Lando Norris was not one of the drivers to crash out, but could only put in a time good enough for seventh in Q3.

Drivers were battling extreme winds during the session, with gusts of around 50mph battering the circuit, in complete contrast to Friday's conditions for the first two practice sessions of the weekend.

There were three red flags thrown during Q1 in a highly disrupted session, with Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto all crashing. All four of those were eliminated from qualifying, along with Esteban Ocon. Then, in Q2, Ollie Bearman caused a fourth red flag of the first 25 minutes of qualifying, crashing his Haas and ending his participation in qualifying.

Charles Leclerc became the fifth driver to crash out of qualifying at the start of Q3, skidding into the barriers at turn 15, bringing out a fifth red flag and completing a dismal day for Ferrari after Lewis Hamilton had earlier exited Q2.

And then, when we thought the drama was over, championship leader Piastri went slamming into the barriers, ending his qualifying and throwing the race for pole position wide open. Plus, it made for a SIXTH red flag in an extraordinary qualifying session.

Here are all the results from qualifying at the Azerbaijan GP.

Position	Driver	Team	Time/Status
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:41.117
2	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+0.478
3	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+0.590
4	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+0.600
5	George Russell	Mercedes	+0.953
6	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull	+1.026
7	Lando Norris	McLaren	+1.122
8	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	+1.255
9	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	NO TIME
10	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	NO TIME
11	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	OUT IN Q2
12	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	OUT IN Q2
13	Gabriel Bortoleto	Sauber	OUT IN Q2
14	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	OUT IN Q2
15	Oliver Bearman	Haas	OUT IN Q2
16	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	OUT IN Q1
17	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	OUT IN Q1
18	Esteban Ocon	Haas	OUT IN Q1
19	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	OUT IN Q1
20	Alex Albon	Williams	OUT IN Q1

How does F1 Qualifying work?

The qualifying session is split into three finite windows, which provide a dramatic prelude to Sunday's race.

The bottom five drivers are eliminated at the end of Q1, with a further five eliminated after Q2.

Then, Q3 gives us a shootout between the remaining 10 drivers in the battle for positions at the front of the grid.

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Sam Cook - Digital Journalist

Sam Cook is a talented young sports journalist and social media professional who now specialises in Formula 1, having previously worked as a football journalist and a local news reporter for a variety of different brands.

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F1 Oscar Piastri Azerbaijan Grand Prix F1 Results