What the teams said – Qualifying in Azerbaijan

Red Bull

Verstappen grabbed back-to-back poles for Red Bull after an assured performance in Qualifying. With so many stoppages, red flags and delays, the Dutchman looked in control throughout and never seemed to be in any danger of dropping out. He nailed his last lap as the rain began to fall to grab his sixth pole of the season. Tsunoda did very well to nail his final lap in Q2 to make the top 10, and kept his session clean to seal sixth, his best Grand Prix Qualifying of the year.

Max Verstappen, 1st, 1:41.117

“I am really happy with our performance today and it was enjoyable, once I crossed the line! Of course, there was a lot of interruption and it was difficult to get a rhythm with the red flags throughout the whole session. This lap is hard to nail and it is not always easy to go on the limit, it is so easy to make a mistake with such unpredictable conditions. I was really happy with how Q1 and Q2 was going and I felt good every time I went out and comfortable with the car. Q3 was such a long wait and difficult to choose the medium or the soft tyres and it was all down to the last lap. We ended up on the soft tyre for the final lap, which wasn’t my favourite and the only new tyre we had. You had to commit, not fully knowing the grip levels out there. However, we nailed the lap and it was a big achievement for us to get pole. For tomorrow, I was happy with the long runs over this weekend so I am hoping that we can put in a similar positive performance.”

Yuki Tsunoda, 6th, 1:42.143

"Today was my best-ever Qualifying result with the Team and that's a real positive to show that we're heading in the right direction. I'm happy to have kept it clean throughout as it was a really chaotic session with all the stoppages and changing conditions. Driving around Baku is always different, just a few millimetres can make the difference and the risk of yellow and red flags is always there. We also had the wind to contend with which added something else to overcome. From Q1, I made every lap count and managed to stay competitive which was a real positive. For the final lap in Q3 I wasn't able to get a reference lap which made it tricky to put it all together, but I can still be happy with P6. Myself and the Team have been working so hard to improve the performance and the changes we've made to the car have definitely helped us. I’ve also put in a lot of hard work on the sim, which we’re hopefully starting to see the results of. I’m looking forward to battling hard tomorrow, the long runs in practice were promising so we want to capitalise on the great work we’ve put in so far this weekend.”

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal

"Honestly, that was outstanding from Max, it was such a difficult Qualifying session. There were 60kph gusts of wind out there and every run was different, sometimes with the wind and sometimes with the drizzle, but Max didn’t put a foot wrong, he just kept building and adapted perfectly. Nice job from Yuki too, that’s his best Quali with us and he really managed that session well today. A big well done to everyone here at the track and back in Milton Keynes, because the car is performing here, at a very strong level. It’s a good sign and a testimony to all the hard work taking place. The Team’s communication was also superb today, not just from the pit wall to the drivers but across the board, when there were a lot of uncontrollable factors. They took all the right risks, we were the last two cars out of the pitlane on the very last run, which included a fair amount of risk, and it worked. We don’t have too much information on race pace here, as not many teams got long runs in on Friday, as we were all trying to keep our race tyres for tomorrow. So, it’s a little more uncertain than normal how things will go and there’s always the risk of safety cars here, so we will take it as it comes."

Williams

Albon was in the top 10 in FP3 and looked the pick of the two Williams drivers in Baku. But he was the first to crash in Qualifying, breaking his suspension after clipping the inside of the barriers. That ended his involvement, leaving Sainz to fly the flag for the team. Sainz went all the way to Q3, and was one of just three drivers to get a lap on the board before the red flags came out. Sitting on provisional pole, he begged his team for a rain dance. The field did manage to come back out, but only Verstappen could beat the Spaniard, who excels in the sort of slippery, mixed conditions that Baku provided on Saturday.

Alex Albon, 20th, 1:43.778

"I’m very disappointed after a mistake in Q1 ended our Qualifying early. I made a mistake on my second push lap, the track had evolved, and I was caught out with the different levels of grip going into the corner. It was a misjudgement, and it is a shame as the car was feeling good all weekend, and I have been running in the top 10 throughout the practice sessions. It’s about recovery tomorrow to make up positions and to fight through the field during the Race. The car has a lot of potential, and Carlos did a great job to get into the top three today. We will give it everything during the Race and maybe there will be some weather or luck on our side."

Carlos Sainz, 2nd, 1:41.595

"Great effort today! Very happy! We executed a very difficult Qualifying perfectly, nailing every call and putting together some very solid laps when it mattered the most. We need to feel proud of the steps we are making and today’s result, but at the same time the weekend is not over yet. Tomorrow will be tough but I fully trust I have strong pace and I will do everything to bring home a great result. Let’s go for it!"

James Vowles, Team Principal

"Vamos, Carlos! I’m very proud of every lap that he achieved today. He was on the pace and did the team proud. And well done to the whole team; there’s been some diligent work over the last ten days or so understanding how to get the tyres working in Qualifying and the proof of that is in today’s result. A well-executed Qualifying, in very difficult conditions. With Alex, I’m deeply sorry for him. He had the pace today to absolutely be up there as well. The good news is that it’s Baku - we can overtake here so watch this space but we’ll be back in the points tomorrow."

Racing Bulls

Lawson has had the edge on Hadjar all weekend long, and Qualifying continued that trend. Both made it to Q3 with relative ease which was impressive in amongst the chaotic session. But once there, the team nailed the timing of their runs. Both got an important banker lap in, which meant they could push on their final runs. And Lawson did just that, bagging a spot in the top three for his best Qualifying of the season as he sets up a tilt at a maiden podium.

Isack Hadjar, 8th, 1:42.372

“It was really tricky out there today, but a great result for the team. We managed the whole session perfectly until the final corner of the final lap, where I went a bit too hard over the curb and lost eight-tenths. The main focus was keeping it on track while pushing to the absolute limit. The car felt incredibly fast, and I wanted to head back out after the red flag for another shot, but I made a mistake. We’re still in a good position to score points tomorrow, even though we were hoping for a bit more. It’s all to play for.”

Liam Lawson, 3rd, 1:41.707

"It's obviously been a great day. It was one of the most crazy Qualifying sessions I've been in, but we did the right thing by playing it safe to maximise laps. When it's windy, it's arguably more tricky than rain, because you don't know where it's coming from. It was changing from lap to lap, but we committed and I feel super happy that everything came together for a strong Quali result. It's going to be a hard race tomorrow, but it's a great position to start in. We're well aware of the guys who we're racing around us, but we'll work hard as a team and fight to keep position."

Guillaume Dezoteux, Head of Vehicle Performance

“The conditions were very different today, very windy with drizzle at times. To add to the difficulty, both medium and soft tyres were very close in terms of performance and balance, with a small advantage for the medium. The team and drivers navigated very successfully though one of the most challenging qualifying sessions this year, which was stopped several times by red flags.

Liam secured third place on the grid after a fantastic drive, making no mistakes and exploiting the car potential. Isack also had a very strong qualifying session finishing P8. Unfortunately, he went wide in the last corner of the last lap, likely due to a gust of wind. It would have been a similar lap time to Liam. We have both cars in strong positions for the race tomorrow and the target is to bring home some good points.”

Mercedes

Of all the top teams, Mercedes had arguably the smoothest Qualifying in Baku. Both drivers negotiated the red flags, although Antonelli gave himself plenty to do in Q1 after seeing his first lap time deleted. But he made it count on his last effort, and from there both Silver Arrows made Q3. Russell did run wide once, but they both delivered a solid last lap in tricky conditions to grab fourth and fifth. Antonelli out-qualified Russell for the first time since Miami, as the teenager continued to deliver a clean weekend – and has just one last task ahead, to race strongly and bring home a good haul of points.

George Russell, 5th, 1:42.070

"That was a frantic qualifying session. P5 is perhaps not the maximum we could have achieved today but it still gives us a solid starting position for tomorrow. That is even more important when you see how others struggled with the difficult conditions and where they will be starting for the Grand Prix.

"It wasn’t just the wind or the rain that came and went several times that made it challenging. We also had to evaluate the medium tyre, which we only ran for the first time this weekend in Q1. It proved a useful tyre to get through the first two segments but, as the track cooled and more rain fell, we opted to take the soft compound for our final run. That was probably the correct decision, but I wasn’t able to maximise the lap as we ran on the early side when the track was perhaps a little more slippery. From a personal perspective, I’ve not felt 100 per cent this weekend either. That made today even tougher but I’m looking forward to resting up tonight, coming back stronger tomorrow and hopefully being in the fight for the podium."

Kimi Antonelli, 4th, 1:41.717

"That was a very difficult qualifying session for everyone out there! We had really windy conditions but also rain which made the white lines around the circuit in particular feel like ice. Judging how much to push and when was a real challenge and that wasn’t helped by all the red flag interruptions. You usually want to get into a rhythm for qualifying but that wasn’t possible today.

"For my last run, we opted to take the medium tyre. I couldn’t quite get the required temperature into it as the track was still cold and slippery. I also lost a few tenths with a gust of wind into the final corner. Without those, I think we could have been on the front-row. That is a shame, but we still have a decent starting position for tomorrow. Hopefully we can look forward and be in the battle for the top three."

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

"That was a tricky session where we ultimately finish slightly disappointed with the final result. Several of our nearest competitors fell by the wayside as qualifying progressed but we couldn’t take full advantage. We opted to split the tyre compound across the cars for the final run but neither driver felt that they extracted the maximum. That was a shame, but P4 and P5 still gives Kimi and George a good chance to fight for a strong result tomorrow.

"Sunday is where the points are scored, so we aren’t going to get ahead of ourselves, but it has been pleasing to see Kimi’s execution so far this weekend. He has kept it clean and in a session where others struggled, he kept a cool head throughout. George meanwhile has battled through illness and yet continued to deliver on track whilst not at 100 per cent. That is exactly in keeping with his character and he will be determined to finish the job with a good performance tomorrow, irrespective of how he is feeling."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"Any qualifying session that lasts for nearly two hours and features six red flags puts the whole team, from the mechanics in the garage, to the engineers and strategists on the pit wall, and of course the drivers, under plenty of pressure. As we saw today, many teams failed to get it right and that will leave them out of position for the Grand Prix. In the final reckoning, we likely could have ended slightly further forward than P4 and P5. On a day as tough as this though, we will take the positive that it gives both cars a good platform from which they can look to score solid points tomorrow.

"Tomorrow likely won’t be any easier than what we have seen today. There is still some forecast rain for the morning, and the wind is likely to be gusting just as it was for qualifying. We will need to be razor sharp in our execution in the pit lane and on the pit wall, and the same will be true for the drivers out on track. If we can do that, then we have a good chance of moving forward and fighting for the podium."

McLaren

After a tricky Friday, Saturday started much better for McLaren. When Norris topped FP3, he went into Qualifying as the favourite for pole. A scruffy Q1 followed for the Brit, but he made it through which is all that mattered. Piastri was sailing through Qualifying, looking right in the mix, but he made a mistake on his hot lap after the red flag and hit the barriers. That ended his Qualifying and left him ninth with no time set. The chance was there for Norris to really steal a march on his team mate, but instead he had another scrappy effort. A couple of small mistakes and a kiss with the barriers left Norris down in seventh on a day more was possible.

Oscar Piastri, 9th, No time set in Q3

“A disappointing end to Qualifying. I was pushing a little bit too hard and, unfortunately, paid the price. The car felt good, and we were in a good position to fight for pole, so it’s a shame. There are still plenty of opportunities to maximise the pace I know we have. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”

Lando Norris, 7th, 1:42.239

“It was a difficult session, especially at the end with a scrappy lap that wasn't good enough. With a bit of rain, and difficult track conditions it’s hard to know how much risk to take and this time it didn't pay off. Looking ahead to tomorrow, the pace looks good so we'll work hard to make up the positions we lost today."

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

“Today’s Qualifying offered up tricky conditions for everyone, with Red and Yellow Flags, windy conditions, and rain at times. P7 and P9 is not the result we expected based on the potential available in the car. Oscar locked the tyre in braking and ended up in the wall, after a strong start to the lap. Lando’s final and decisive lap in Q3 was in line for a much higher position, but he made contact with the wall in T15 and lost a lot of time.

“The team will work hard to repair Oscar’s car ahead of what is expected to be a busy and tricky race tomorrow. We will now shift our focus to the race where we want to fight for a podium finish and earn valuable points. We look forward to the challenge.”

Ferrari

Ferrari looked quick again in FP3, and went into Qualifying in good shape. But their session started to go wrong in Q2. On their initial runs Leclerc went wide, wrecking his lap but also his team mate’s as Hamilton was forced to abort thanks to the resultant yellow flags. Coming back out as the clock ticked down, Leclerc did enough to make Q3 but Hamilton could not – and was left to rue his tyre strategy. But Leclerc then crashed just as the rain started to fall in Q3, bringing out the red flags and failing to set a lap time. P10 and P12 is a far cry from what the Scuderia hoped for after the highs of yesterday.

Charles Leclerc, 10th, No time set in Q3

"We bet on medium as the best compound today, but unfortunately, with the cooler temperatures and drizzle we faced at the start of Q3, it became difficult to get the tyres in the right window. I over-dedicated myself to that corner and just didn’t have the grip, so I made a mistake. We were on the wrong side of things today, just like some others, so we will have to make the best of it tomorrow and fight to make our way back to the front."

Lewis Hamilton, 12th, 1:42.183

"I’m disappointed not to have been able to convert our strong start to the weekend into a good qualifying result. We will be looking at the session as a team so we can take the learnings from it. We know it will be a challenge tomorrow, but the car has felt good all weekend and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do in the race."

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

"There’s a feeling of frustration after this qualifying, because yesterday we had very strong pace over a long run and on the single lap. Today, conditions were different with much strong gusts of wind and it was cooler, which made it more difficult to get the tyres in the right window, but it was the same for everybody so that cannot be an excuse. We struggled to put everything together. Charles had decent pace and was doing a good job, but then he touched the wall. I think he was caught out by a gust of wind between the buildings and in this situation it’s easy to make a mistake, especially when conditions change from one lap to the next. He was not the only one today. It is what it is and now we must focus on the race. It’s also true that today it wasn’t clear cut which was best, between the soft and the medium; pole was set on the soft, Carlos [Sainz] was second on medium."

Aston Martin

After a tricky Friday, Aston Martin seemed to have found something going into Qualifying. They managed to get both cars into Q2, but could go no further. Alonso got the closest, just knocked out by Tsunoda by less than a tenth. Stroll was left frustrated after a rogue gust of wind sent him wide on his last flying run, ending his chances of improving.

Fernando Alonso, 11th, 1:41.857

"It went a little better than we expected today in Qualifying and I think to be on the edge of Q3 is a good result for us. There were a lot of red and yellow flags, so we weren't able to get too many laps on the board. We opted to run mostly with the medium tyres and I think it worked quite well, but it's tricky to say which compound is better. The windy conditions made it difficult out there and it made every lap very inconsistent. It's meant to be windy tomorrow as well, so we'll see what happens."

Lance Stroll, 14th, 1:42.101

"We had a good Q1, but only got a couple laps on the board in Q2 because the wind was changing direction every lap. They were very tricky conditions and not easy to get clean laps in because you suddenly lose downforce. We will start from P14 tomorrow and see what we can do."

Mike Krack, Chief Trackside Officer

"Not easy conditions for Qualifying with the gusty wind making each lap a bit of a lottery. Many drivers made mistakes, and the yellow and red flags made it difficult to complete a clean lap. Fernando and Lance dealt with the tricky conditions well and strong laps saw them both progress to Q2 – which was the realistic target today. Let's see what we can do from P11 and P14. Today has shown just how challenging this circuit can be and there are bound to be opportunities in the race. We’ve done our homework, have a good range of tyres available, and will try and progress up the order."

Kick Sauber

Hulkenberg crashed in Q1, wiping off his front wing and damaging his floor after getting his braking point all wrong. Despite the red flags, he was able to limp back to the pits and even managed to get back out. But with car damage and the clock ticking down, he couldn’t find enough time to make it through. Bortoleto did, and had a clean session, but just didn’t have the pace for Q3 out there.

Nico Hulkenberg, 17th, 1:42.916

“It’s obviously going to be a challenge starting from where we are, but crazy things can happen at this track and we’re here to fight. The car has felt decent all weekend overall, and if things open up in the race, we’ll try to take full advantage. We’ll reset tonight and give it everything tomorrow.”

Gabriel Bortoleto, 13th, 1:42.277

“Qualifying felt like I did not get the perfect lap today. I lost some time in the last corner and, with the windy conditions, it was tricky for us to put everything together. Still, I managed to bring the car safely into Q2, which was a decent outcome: of course, as a driver you always want the very best result, and I am obviously a bit disappointed, but I think this is what was achievable for us today. Now, we look ahead to tomorrow: our race pace has shown some potential, and if we can manage the opening laps well, I believe we can put in a solid performance and hopefully fight for points again.”

Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal

“It was a scrappy, wind affected qualifying session with an unprecedented six red flags, one of which involved Nico. Ultimately, both drivers struggled to deliver a clean lap and, as a result, we find ourselves starting the race from P13 and P17. It was clearly a day to forget on the timing sheets, but the great thing about Formula 1 is that every race brings opportunities. We will regroup overnight and focus our attention on the race tomorrow."

Haas

Not to be for Haas despite some very promising practice results. Ocon exited in Q1, just unable to get a clean lap in when it mattered. But Bearman scraped through in P15, and looked to build from there. Instead, he managed to crash out at the start of Q2, triggering a red flag. In truth he didn’t get it too badly wrong, but a kiss with his rear wheel was enough to break the suspension and see him park up on track. Worse was to come for Haas when Ocon's car failed scrutineering after the session due to a rear wing infringement, resulting in his disqualification from Qualifying.

Esteban Ocon, DSQ, 1:43.004

“I was locking up in each of my laps, we had big issues with braking. We had it yesterday, but even more so today, so I’m really disappointed as I think there’s more in the car than that. Today’s disappointing to be where we are, but tomorrow hopefully we’ll come back and take every opportunity that presents itself.”

Oliver Bearman, 15th, No time set in Q2

“I touched the wall at Turn 2 when trying to get an early lap on the board, as there were lots of interruptions before. Every lap is important - we nearly got thrown out in Q1 because of that – but I unfortunately got caught out by the wind, so I can only say sorry to the team."

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“It’s obviously very frustrating to say the least. We’ve had speed all weekend, we’ve shown that, but when it mattered, as a team, we didn’t deliver. Sooner or later we need to deliver, otherwise we’re going to run out of races. I feel that we’re very much out of position for tomorrow, but we’re just going to have to do our best to get into the top 10, it’s just incredibly frustrating.”

Alpine

Alpine had a Qualifying to forget in Baku. With the clock hitting zero and both drivers on a hot lap, first Gasly ran straight on into the run-off area, ending his chances. But behind Colapinto arrived and got it all wrong, hitting the walls hard and bringing out the red flags. He was able to walk away unscathed which was good to see, but his car requires an overnight rebuild, as Alpine’s Q1 involvement ended with both cars parked nearly side by side.

Pierre Gasly, 19th, 1:43.139

“It was very tricky out there today with such strong winds. Sorry to the team for the mistake, which, regardless of the conditions, is on me. I just tried to brake marginally later into Turn 4 and as soon as I braked, I lost the rear and had to avoid the corner and go straight. I may have been caught out by a high gust of wind, but it is disappointing not to have put together that lap as it looked close to progressing to Q2. I was improving and we needed to take some risks to go through. We will try and get something from the race tomorrow. The car is difficult here, especially in finding any consistency, and we are just not at ease. We will try our best in the race and see what we can do to maximise our end result.”

Franco Colapinto, 16th, 1:42.779

“The car felt much better today and we made some good steps forward from yesterday. The first run on softs in Qualifying was already looking more positive and we were in the mix to get through. I was up on my delta at the start of the final lap in Q1, but a big gust of wind into Turn 4 meant I lost the rear completely and made contact with the wall on the outside. Wind tends to play a major factor here, but it seemed more so today with gusts catching a lot of people out with multiple incidents and stoppages throughout Qualifying. It's a pity that we didn't get to complete the lap, as I felt with how the car was feeling, we had a good chance of getting through to Q2. Also sorry to the team for the extra work. Let's see what's possible tomorrow as this race tends to throw up a lot of surprises.”

Flavio Briatore, Executive Advisor

“It has not been a good day for the team with both cars out in Q1. This track has proved difficult for us and we appeared to make small steps forward session by session in improving our package. We had to take some risks if we were to progress in Qualifying and both drivers were pushing extremely hard on all their laps. In the end, they were caught out by the tough conditions, much like other drivers were during the session. In any case, not the outcome we wanted and some repairs to do ahead of the race. It will be a tough race and we have to at least aim to be in a position to capitalise on any potential circumstance.”

Pirelli

Mario Isola, Motorsport Director

“A very unusual qualifying session, because of how long it lasted and in terms of tyre usage. We knew that when it came to overall performance, the difference between the C5 and C6 compounds would be very small and would vary from car to car and even from one driver to another. The drop in temperature the drivers had to contend with in qualifying, exacerbated by how long it went on for, meant the performance gap came down even further. Therefore, the choice between the two compounds was subjective. In fact, at first glance it would seem that the soft compound was the most effective, contrary to what had appeared to be the case after yesterday.

“In terms of strategy tomorrow, the clearly fastest route is a one-stop with medium and hard playing the leading roles, unless of course there are any neutralisations. As for the soft, it is unlikely to be used in the race, but it cannot be ruled out entirely, for example in the case of someone looking to do a short first stint, before running in clear air and going all the way to the chequered flag. Obviously a first stint on medium or hard allows for greater flexibility, since it’s not out of the question that the race could be neutralised, as we saw in qualifying and in today’s Formula 2 race. The one certainty is that it will be a very unpredictable race, especially because of a grid order like nothing we have seen so far this season.”