Leclerc qualifies on pole for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Title challenger Norris 17th
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Charles Leclerc qualified on pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday as Max Verstappen was sixth and Lando Norris only 17th in a session that could have a big impact on the title race.
Ferrari’s Leclerc, who won the last race in Italy, was fastest by .321 seconds from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz Jr. in third.
Norris was on what seemed to be a lap fast enough to progress from the first part of qualifying as one of the top 15. But he told broadcaster Sky that “I had to lift” — slow down — because of a yellow flag that was apparently for Esteban Ocon’s slow-moving Alpine. Norris’ time from his first lap missed the 15th-place cutoff by .137 of a second.
“There’s a long race ahead, we have some good tires in the bank, I’m still hopeful we can get a good result. I think the car is quick. Bit frustrating, but nothing I can do,” Norris said.
Norris is second in the standings, 62 points behind Verstappen with eight rounds of the championship remaining.
There was a bizarre incident in the final part of qualifying when Williams’ Alex Albon stopped on his way out of the pits to remove a large piece of cooling equipment that the team had left in his air intake. Albon qualified 10th and was facing an investigation from the stewards after the session.
Albon’s teammate Franco Colapinto, in only his second F1 race weekend, qualified ninth and British teen Oliver Bearman, standing in at Haas for the suspended Kevin Magnussen, was 11th after recovering from a crash in third practice Saturday morning.
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing