Leclerc becomes the 15th driver to qualify on the front row at eight consecutive races, Verstappen is out-qualified by his team mate at successive events for the first time in almost four years and Bottas records his worst qualifying result in seven years. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix!
LECLERC’S SIXTH POLE OF THE SEASON
In the sixth race weekend at Baku City Circuit, Charles Leclerc became the track’s first repeat polesitter. This was the 15th pole position of his career, putting him 22nd in the all-time list. No driver has ended their F1 career with exactly 15 poles.
This is Leclerc’s sixth pole from the first eight races of the 2022 season. He has started from the front row in all eight races so far this year. He makes this the 25th time that a driver has started on the front row at eight or more consecutive races. He is the 15th driver to achieve the feat.
Leclerc records his 18th front row qualification, equalling Jochen Rindt for 45th in the all-time list of most front row starts in Formula 1.
With their third pole at Baku City Circuit, Ferrari equal Mercedes as the team with the most poles at the venue. Ferrari also become the second team, after Mercedes, to take consecutive poles in Azerbaijan. Mercedes did so in 2016 and 2017.
IN THE TOP 10
Sergio Perez qualified alongside Charles Leclerc on the front row of the grid. He becomes the 101st driver to have qualified on the front row on three occasions.
With Max Verstappen third, this is the first time that both Red Bulls have qualified in the top three in Baku. 2018 is the only other time that both Red Bulls have qualified in the top five at the track.
This is the first time Verstappen has been out-qualified by his team-mate at two consecutive races since the 2018 United States and Mexican Grands Prix.
After setting the fastest time on the first Q3 runs, Carlos Sainz ultimately qualified in fourth place, making this the first time that both Ferrari drivers have qualified in the top four at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix since 2017.
With George Russell fifth and Lewis Hamilton seventh, this is the first race at Baku City Circuit for which neither Mercedes driver qualified on the front row.
For the second year in a row, both AlphaTauri drivers reached Q3 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Both Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda recorded their best qualifying results of the season to date with sixth and eighth respectively.
With ninth place, Sebastian Vettel equalled his best qualifying result of the year to date. He also qualified ninth at the Emilia Romagna and Monaco Grands Prix.
Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez and Yuki Tsunoda all maintained their 100% Q3 appearance record in Baku.
OUT IN Q2
Lando Norris lost his 100% Q3 appearance record at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, missing out on qualifying in the top ten by just 0.022 seconds.
For the first time since 2018, neither McLaren driver appeared in Q3 in Azerbaijan. This is the third race of the year at which both McLaren cars have failed to reach Q3. It last happened at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Qualifying 12th, Daniel Ricciardo equals Carlos Sainz as the driver to have recorded the most Q2 exits in Baku. This was his fourth Q2 elimination at the track.
For the first time in Formula 1, Zhou Guanyu out-qualified his team-mate.
With 15th place, Valtteri Bottas recorded his worst qualifying result since qualifying 17th at the 2015 Monaco Grand Prix over seven years ago. This was the first time Bottas has failed to reach Q3 at Baku City Circuit.
OUT IN Q1
Lance Stroll qualified 19th as a result of a crash for the second successive year at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. This was the Aston Martin driver’s third consecutive Q1 exit in Baku, as well as his third back row qualification of the 2022 season.
Stroll equals Romain Grosjean and Marcus Ericsson as the driver to have recorded the most Q1 exits in Baku.
Nicholas Latifi was elimated in Q1 for a 15th consecutive race weekend. He equals his longest run of successive Q1 eliminations, having also been eliminated in Q1 at all 15 races between the 2020 British Grand Prix and the 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix. In better news for the Canadian, this was the second time in 2022 that he has not qualified on the back row of the grid.
Both Haas and Williams recorded their second double Q1 exit in Baku. Williams’ last double Q1 exit in Azerbaijan was in 2019, while both Haas cars were out in Q1 here last year.
With Mick Schumacher recording his first Q1 exit of the year, this was the first time in 2022 that both Haas cars have been eliminated in Q1.