Charles Leclerc put aside Ferrari's poor start to the new season to beat Max Verstappen to pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
For a while it looked as though the two 2022 title rivals would set the exact same fastest time in Q3. That would have meant the Red Bull star would have taken pole, as he was the first of the two to cross the finish line.
But they both improved with their final flying lap. Verstappen consolidated second place, but Leclerc found the biggest gain to secure his and Ferrari's first pole of the season – just the tonic for the Italians and new boss Frederic Vasseur after a difficult start to the campaign.
Meanwhile, as for the Mercedes pair, it was a day to forget. George Russell failed to reach Q3 while Lewis Hamilton scraped through by the skin of his teeth. In that final part of the session, he could only go fifth fastest, while the Aston Martins were also less competitive than has been the case in previous weeks.
Pierre Gasly's car caught fire in practice earlier on Friday, pitting the Alpine mechanics in a race against time to get the car fixed and engine and gearbox replaced in time for qualifying. They managed to get the Frenchman back out on track in time, but it was in vain as he locked up his front right and hit the wall hard side on.
That was after the man who replaced him at AlphaTauri became the first to fail in the session. Nyck de Vries got his braking all wrong and drove his car front-first straight into the Tec-pro barrier. It left the AlphaTauri engineers with a significant repair job to complete to get that car ready for the Saturday shootout.
Kevin Magnussen was the next victim of the Baku street circuit as an electrical issue which plagued him throughout the day posed too much of a risk, the team felt, for him to continue on his final flying lap, and so he will start Sunday's race 18th. Haas team-mate Nico Hulkenberg was slowest of all those still running at the end of the session, while Zhou Guanyu missed out on Q2 by two-hundredths of a second.
Q2 sprung a surprise as Mercedes' struggles became evident. Hamilton scraped through by the skin of his teeth in 10th, but Russell was outqualified by his team-mate for the first time this season and will start Sunday's race 11th on the grid.
He will share the sixth row with Esteban Ocon. Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas was 14th quickest, sandwiched by the two Williams drivers. Alex Albon will be 13th on the grid, while Logan Sargeant may well just be happy to have reached Q2 for the first time in his fledgling Formula 1 career.
Full 2023 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying result
- Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
- Max Verstappen – Red Bull
- Sergio Perez – Red Bull
- Carlos Sainz – Ferrari
- Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
- Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin
- Lando Norris – McLaren
- Yuki Tsunoda – AlphaTauri
- Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
- Oscar Piastri – McLaren
- George Russell – Mercedes
- Esteban Ocon – Alpine
- Alexander Albon – Williams
- Valtteri Bottas – Alfa Romeo
- Logan Sargeant – Williams
- Zhou Guanyu – Alfa Romeo
- Nico Hulkenberg – Haas
- Kevin Magnussen – Haas
- Pierre Gasly – Alpine
- Nyck de Vries – AlphaTauri
