Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Valtteri Bottas snatches pole off Lewis Hamilton in crash-filled qualifying

Mercedes pair lead the way in Baku but Sebastian Vettel will fight a lonely cause for Ferrari after teammate Charles Leclerc crashed out of qualifying

Valtteri Bottas snatched pole position from Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton with a stunning lap record around the streets of Baku for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but it was another day to forget for Ferrari with Sebastian Vettel third and Charles Leclerc ending the day in the wall after a drama-filled session.

Hamilton led the way after the first flying laps, with his lap time 1:40.702 more than four-tenths ahead of his nearest competitor in Vettel until Verstappen managed to split the championship rivals. However, it was tight at the top as the top four were separated by under half-a-second, with Hamilton’s teammate Bottas slotting into fourth.

Having run early, Verstappen parked up his Red Bull and decided against a second run. It was a decision that cost the young Dutchman as first Vettel jumped above him, before Bottas crossed the line to snatch pole off Hamilton by 0.059s, with Hamilton’s final lap not enough as he followed the Finn on their last run.

But the reigning world champion was more relieved than rueful, with Mercedes lagging behind Ferrari for much of the weekend.

"It has been close this weekend,” Hamilton said. “Ferrari looked good and Valtteri did an exceptional job.

"We didn't have any upgrade and for us to get lock-out due to circumstance, I am grateful for that.

"I hope pace-wise we will be closer than in qualifying. We have a good crowd here and Valtteri is always quick here so will have my work cut out."

Bottas was in agreement. "I'm really happy, it was a nice lap and Ferrari have been really strong, obviously Charles was out by a mistake and as a team we feel really good to be where we are now.”

Mercedes’ optimism stems from the fact that the weekend pace-setter Leclerc crashed out of second qualifying, leaving him 10th in the grid and almost certain to start from either the back of the field or the pit lane due to the extensive rebuild required overnight.

"They were bit quicker,” admitted Vettel afterwards. "The session was long and the track was cooling down. It was difficult to find something. I had a good lap but happy got the maximum out.

"We were expecting to have a better session. The car was becoming more difficult to drive. I regret not taking the gamble but probably was still the right call."

Robert Kubica crashed to bring out the red flag in Q1 (Getty) (Getty Images)

Both Q1 and Q2 had to be red flagged, causing long delays as marshals twice had to rebuild the barrier at the Turn Nine chicane.

Initially it was the Williams of Robert Kubica who brought the first session to a halt, adding to the team’s nightmare weekend so far. The Polish driver turned into Turn Eight too early, resulting in his front-left wheel clipping the inside barrier and propelling him across the corner and into wall before Turn Nine.

And for the second day in a row, the Williams team will face a complete rebuild, having spent most of Friday putting together George Russell’s spare chassis after he hit a loose manhole cover that cracked his initial chassis and destroyed the rear of his car.

Kubica’s crash ended the session, resulting in the elimination of both Russell and Kubica on the back-row, with Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, Haas F1’s Romain Grosjean and the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg joining them.

Charles Leclerc followed Kubica into the wall to halt Q2 (Getty) (Getty Images)

After the delay in repairing the barrier the first time, it wasn’t long before the red flags were back out. Having set the pace in third practice with a blistering lap time, Leclerc went into the session as a genuine front-runner for pole position. But like Kubica he came unstuck on the approach to Turn Nine, locking up his front-right and slamming nose-first into the barrier.

"I don't want to say anything stupid but I think after FP1, FP2 and FP3 and Q1, pole was possible today and I threw all the potential in the bin,” rued Leclerc afterwards. “I'm very disappointed and will come back stronger from this.

"I braked as much as I did on the softs but I was on the mediums and locked up. It's no problem with the tyres it's just myself.

"For the next three or four hours I will be beating myself up."

Bottas took pole position ahead of Hamilton and Vettel (Reuters) (REUTERS)

Once Q2 restarted, it was the Red Bull of Verstappen who lead the way, but his teammate Pierre Gasly elected not to run after topping Q1 as he will start from the pit lane for missing the weigh-bridge during Friday practice. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz failed to make the final shootout, as did the second Renault of Daniel Riccardo, Toro Rosso’s Alex Albon and the Haas of Kevin Magnussen.

The stage was then set for Bottas to punch pole position at the death, with Hamilton and Vettel in close company as the top three were separated by 0.302 seconds. Verstappen leads the best of the rest in fourth, with Racing Point securing their best qualifying result yet as Sergio Perez took fifth ahead of a delighted Daniil Kvyat in sixth. Lando Norris outperformed his teammate Sainz to take seventh on the grid, with the two Alfa Romeos of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen rounding out the top 10 along with Leclerc.

Daniil Kvyat celebrates qualifying sixth for Sunday's race (Reuters) (REUTERS)

The grid is almost certain the be shaken up though, with Giovinazzi receiving a 10-place grid penalty for an electronic change, Leclerc likely to be out of position and Gasly starting from the pits.

Final Positions after Qualifying:

1 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1min 40.495secs

2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:40.554

3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:40.797

4 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:41.069

5 Sergio Perez (Mex) Racing Point 1:41.593

6 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:41.681

7 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:41.886

8 Antonio Giovinazzi (Ita) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:42.424 + 10-place grid penalty

9 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:43.068

10 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari no time set

11 Carlos Sainz (Spa) McLaren 1:42.398

12 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Renault 1:42.477

13 Alexander Albon (Tha) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:42.494

14 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:42.699

15 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Red Bull no time set – will start from pit lane due to penalty

16 Lance Stroll (Can) Racing Point 1:42.630

17 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:43.407

18 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:43.427

19 George Russell (Gbr) Williams 1:45.062

20 Robert Kubica (Pol) Williams 1:45.455