Championship leader Oscar Piastri crashed out of qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Max Verstappen claimed pole in a chaotic session.
In an extraordinary qualifying which featured a record total of six red flags and lasted almost two hours, Verstappen clinched a sixth pole of the season by delivering a flawless lap at the end.
Piastri, who leads McLaren team-mate Lando Norris by 31 points with eight rounds remaining, smashed into the wall in the final stages of Q3 and will start lower than fourth for the first time this season.
That opened the door to Norris but he too clipped the wall on his final run, which was only good enough to put him seventh on the grid – two places above his team-mate. Williams’ Carlos Sainz capitalised on the chaos to qualify second, ahead of Liam Lawson and Kimi Antonelli.
Here’s how the standings look after the Azerbaijan GP
F1 driver standings after Azerbaijan GP
1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 324 points
2. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 299 points
3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 255 points
4. George Russell (Mercedes) – 212 points
5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 165 points
6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – 121 points
7. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 78 points
8. Alex Albon (Williams) – 70 points
9. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) – 39 points
10. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) – 37 points
11. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – 32 points
12. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – 30 points
13. Esteban Ocon (Haas) – 28 points
14. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – 20 points
15. Carlos Sainz (Williams) – 31 points
16. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) – 30 points
17. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) – 18 points
18. Ollie Bearman (Haas) – 16 points
19. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) – 12 points
20. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) – 0 points
21. Jack Doohan (Alpine) – 0 points
F1 constructor standings after Azerbaijan GP
1. McLaren – 623 points
2. Mercedes – 290 points
3. Ferrari – 286 points
4. Red Bull – 272 points
5. Williams – 101 points
6. Racing Bulls – 72 points
7. Aston Martin – 62 points
8. Sauber – 55 points
9. Haas – 44 points
10. Alpine – 20 points
