The China Mail - Verstappen claims pole in chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying

Red Bull's reigning world champion edged Spaniard Carlos Sainz of Williams and New Zealander Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls in a chaotic session which saw seven crashes.

World championship leader Oscar Piastri crashed in Q3 and will start from ninth on the grid, two places behind McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

While the battle for pole position usually lasts an hour, this time it lasted almost two hours due to the time needed to remove the crashed cars, clean up debris scattered across the track, and repair crash barriers.

There were three red flags in Q1, the first part of qualifying, following crashes by Thailand's Alexander Albon (Williams), Germany's Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber), and Argentina's Franco Colapinto (Alpine).

Then there was an interruption in Q2 when Britain's Oliver Bearman (Haas) went off the track, and finally two in Q3 following the violent crashes of Monaco's Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Australia's Piastri.

Norris failed to seize the opportunity offered to him by Piastri, finishing only seventh after a mistake on his only flying lap in Q3.

The Briton will therefore start only two places ahead of his teammate, who has a 31-point lead over him at the top of the world championship.

A.Kwok--ThChM