

But that wasn’t the case later in the afternoon as the temperatures dropped for Qualifying and both finished outside the top ten, with Lando Norris 11th and Daniel Ricciardo 12th.
#Flatout 2 vs ultimate carnage drivers#
The two McLaren drivers looked very much in the mix for Q3 after the final practice session, finishing in the top six.

McLaren outside the top ten but confident Russell Meanwhile will be looking to extend his impressive start to life at Mercedes, having finished in the top five at every race so far this year, but the Briton admits he has been struggling with the bouncing in his car and fears he’s in for a tough race on Sunday.ģ. Gasly and AlphaTauri were strong here last year too, as he finished on the podium after starting on the second row, and he has the car to give Mercedes a headache on Sunday if he can hold position or even get ahead of George Russell at the start. READ MORE: Red Bull and Ferrari ‘in a completely different league’ says Hamilton after frustrating Baku Qualifying It hasn’t been the easiest season for Gasly so far and he only has six points to his name at this point, but the Frenchman looked quick throughout Saturday and managed to split the Silver Arrows pair, taking sixth on the grid ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

But against that backdrop they nearly secured the third row to themselves – but for Pierre Gasly.

Mercedes might have been getting on top of their car in Barcelona but they were on the back foot of a little in Monaco and are struggling to resolve their bouncing issues in Baku too, leaving them unable to join the battle for pole position. Perez is also looking to become the first two-time Winner of this race having won here last year, while Carlos Sainz went from provisional pole to fourth at the end of Q3 and will also be a factor as the top two teams fight it out for Victory. The Mexican is just 15 points off the Championship lead and has looked a bit more comfortable than his team mate Max Verstappen this weekend so far, buoyed by his win in Monaco and the new two-year contract in his pocket. Leclerc made it four poles in a row with a stunning final lap in Qualifying – his sixth in eight races – and it’s also back-to-back pole positions in Baku after he was quickest here in 2021 too.įrom a Championship perspective, it’s beautifully poised as Leclerc will lead the field away but he has the two Red Bulls behind him, with Perez joining him on the front row after a strong weekend so far. READ MORE: Leclerc blazes to Baku pole as Perez joins him on the front row in Azerbaijan Grand Prix Qualifying This season might have gone the way of Red Bull more often than not in Races up to now – with Sergio Perez’s win in Monaco in their fourth in a row – but the Qualifying battle has been won by Ferrari and Charles Leclerc so far. From the next round of the tense fight between the top two teams to a thorn in Mercedes’ side and from McLaren with work to do to almost inevitable interruptions, we pick out some of the key things to look out for around the Streets of Baku in Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix … 1.
