F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2025: Full Qualifying Results And Report

Max Verstappen took pole position for Formula 1's Azerbaijan Grand Prix in a dramatic qualifying session that saw a record number of red flags.

One of those were caused by championship leader Oscar Piastri, who crashed out in Q3. But McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris was unable to take advantage and was only seventh fastest.

But Monza winner Verstappen clinched pole with a stunning lap as rain began to spit with his final effort, eventually 0.478s faster than Williams' Carlos Sainz with a benchmark time of a 1:41.117s. Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson was an exceptional third.

The final session began in gloomy conditions with rain drops falling, though not enough to make the track surface wet. George Russell was the first to find difficulty when he went off at Turn 4, the resultant yellow flags hindering Lando Norris' effort.

That left Sainz as the first to reach the start-finish line to set a time, with Racing Bulls duo Lawson and Isack Hadjar second and third.

Piastri looked set to go fastest before a fifth red flag of the qualifying hour was triggered by a heavy crash at Turn 15 for Charles Leclerc.

Charles is out of the car and okay 👍#F1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/TtOCowFTnD
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 20, 2025

The incident meant the Ferrari driver ended his streak of pole positions at the venue having been fastest in qualifying every year since 2021.

Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli reported that the white lines on the circuit were "like ice", setting up a fascinating seven minutes in the battle for pole.

The sun did come back out by the time the track went green again and it looked like there would be no fairytale for Williams and Sainz.

But the dream was given another chance when Piastri shunted at Turn 3 with 3:41 left on the clock, leaving extensive damage to the right-front of his McLaren, giving his mechanics an extensive repair job before Sunday's race.

🔴 RED FLAG 🔴

Oscar Piastri's gone into the wall! 🤯#F1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/CIMfGVe0fR
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 20, 2025

With little time left, the remaining eight drivers had just one flying attempt to get it right but more rain drops began to fall.

Norris was the first to set a lap but hit the wall at Turn 15. Somehow he survived to finish his effort but couldn't beat Sainz. Russell was next and went ahead of Norris, though Verstappen was flying.

Lawson and Antonelli were next to go ahead of Russell but behind Sainz but Verstappen comfortably took pole with a stunning final effort.

F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Q3 results

Position / Driver / Team	Gap [s]
1. Max Verstappen / Red Bull	1:41.117
2. Carlos Sainz / Red Bull.	+0.478
3. Liam Lawson / Racing Bulls	+0.590
4. Kimi Antonelli / Mercedes	+0.600
5. George Russell / Mercedes	+0.953
6. Yuki Tsunoda / Red Bull	+1.026
7. Lando Norris / McLaren	+1.122
8. Isack Hadjar / Racing Bulls	+1.255
9. Oscar Piastri / McLaren	No Time
10. Charles Leclerc / Ferrari	No Time

F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Q2 results

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari — Scuderia Ferrari

Red flag number four of the day came when Oliver Bearman hit the wall with his Haas at the exit of Turn 2 on his first effort of the session.

"Sorry guys, so stupid" was his response on team radio as he stopped by the side of the track on the run to T3.

The story of the session was Lewis Hamilton's failure to progress to the top 10. Things had looked to be on the up for the seven-time champion after promising pace across practice, but he missed out on Q3 having run the softs, compared to everyone bar McLaren and Lance Stroll using mediums.

It was Stroll's Aston Martin teammate Fernando Alonso who had bumped Hamilton into the elimination zone before the Spaniard was himself shuffled out by Tsunoda at the death, the gap to safety just 0.069s.

Stroll qualified 14th after an error on his final run at Turn 1, behind Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto, with Bearman setting no time.

Position / Driver / Team	Gap to Q3 [s]
11. Fernando Alonso / Aston Martin	+0.069
12. Lewis Hamilton / Ferrari	+0.395
13. Gabriel Bortoleto / Sauber	+0.489
14. Lance Stroll / Aston Martin	+1.273
15. Oliver Bearman / Haas	No Time

F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Q1 results

Alex Albon's weekend had looked promising across the three practice sessions but, as has often been the case for Williams this year, things fell apart when the competitive running started. The Thai-Briton turned in too early for the first corner and damaged his front-left suspension when clipping the inside wall, triggering a red flag as his car was retrieved from between Turns 1 and 2.

A second red flag was thrown when Nico Hulkenberg put his Sauber in the barriers at Turn 4 and although he managed to get back to the pits and rejoin the session, the German would join Albon in elimination.

Both Alpines also failed to progress with Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto making errors as the clock turned zero to bring out the third red flag of Q1.

Position / Driver / Team	Gap to Q2 [s]
16. Franco Colapinto / Alpine	+0.113
17. Nico Hulkenberg / Sauber	+0.250
18. Esteban Ocon / Haas	+0.338
19. Pierre Gasly / Alpine	+0.473
20. Alex Albon / Williams	+1.112

Gasly ran down the escape road after a tailgust into Turn 4 but while he escaped damage, teammate Colapinto left his car in pieces after hitting the barriers on the exit of the same corner while the Frenchman was

The four to hit strife were joined by Esteban Ocon in going out of qualifying, the Haas driver setting the 18th-fastest time.

The Latest F1 News