Charles Leclerc crash opens door for Valtteri Bottas to take Baku pole

Azerbaijan GP

Leclerc crash opens door for Bottas to take Baku pole

A crazy, crazy quali in Azerbaijan!

Matthew Scott

Saturday 27 April 2019 16:54 Updated: 13:48

Valtteri Bottas stormed to pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after Charles Leclerc's crash in Q2 denied the Monegasque, who had been the quickest man on-track all weekend until he ploughed into the barriers at the castle section of the Baku circuit.

A bonkers Saturday in Baku ended with Bottas leading Lewis Hamilton in an all-Mercedes front row, despite the team's pessimism ahead of the session.

The Finn will have a chance at redemption after losing out in last year's race due to a puncture a few laps from the end while leading.

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Leclerc will also be out to make good, however, having dominated the weekend right up to the middle of Q2 when he went into the barriers at the castle, matching an incident suffered by Robert Kubica at the same spot in Q1.

📻 "I am stupid, I am stupid"

A distraught @Charles_Leclerc apologises to his Ferrari team mates #AzerbaijanGP 🇦🇿 #F1 pic.twitter.com/j7wkZ4ZUqI
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 27, 2019

With the door open, Hamilton looked like he would be the one to benefit after the first runs of Q3, but Bottas picked up a tow down Baku's monster straight and pipped his team-mate by 0.059 seconds with an outright lap record time of 1:40.495.

In the end Vettel had to settle for third, having seemingly failed to make the most of Ferrari's apparent strength, although the rapidly dropping track temperatures in a qualifying session that lasted almost two hours may have played a part, as did the Mercedes pair's ability to get a tow on the main straight, while Vettel ran in clear air out front in Q3.

Max Verstappen will start P4, with Sergio Perez and Daniil Kvyat filling the top six spots left clear by Leclerc's crash and Red Bull's refusal to run Pierre Gasly as the Frenchman will start from the pit lane due to missing a call to the weighbridge in Friday practice.

VIDEO: Leclerc crashes Ferrari in Baku qualifying!Check out the headline incident.Read more

Lando Norris led the Alfa Romeos of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen to round out the top nine, although the Italian will drop 10 places due to an electronics change.

Before his crash ,Leclerc had set a time good enough for Q3, so will start ninth, barring any major changes that would impact his starting spot.

Q2

Leclerc's crash punctuated the middle of the session and the second part saw drivers struggle to find grip on a track steadily getting colder. Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo, Alexander Albon, Kevin Magnussen and Pierre Gasly, not running as he will start from the it lane, will be the ones to drop out.

Q1

Nico Hulkenberg was the surprise dropout here, later saying he could not "feel the love" from his Renault. Lance Stroll went out in Q1 for the eighth race in a row, with Romain Grosjean also dropping out along with the Williams pair.