Leclerc takes a fourth consecutive pole in Azerbaijan, Colapinto records the best qualifying result for an Argentine in over 40 years and Norris’ Q1 exit ends McLaren’s 100% Q3 appearance rate in 2024. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
LECLERC ON POLE AT THE 2024 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX
For the fourth year in a row, Charles Leclerc secured pole position at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. This was the 26th pole position of Leclerc’s career, seeing him equal Mika Hakkinen for 11th on the list of most all-time Formula 1 pole positions.
Ferrari become the first team to take five pole positions in Azerbaijan.
This was the second time Leclerc was fastest in qualifying in 2024 – after the Monaco Grand Prix – but is the third time he will start from pole position this year, after the Monaco and Belgian Grands Prix.
As well as extending the record for most pole positions at Baku City Circuit, Leclerc equalled Lewis Hamilton’s record for most front row starts at the track.
IN THE TOP 10
With second place, Oscar Piastri equalled his best qualifying result of the season at the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. It’s the fifth time he’s qualified second this year.
This was the first time since the Monaco Grand Prix that Piastri out-qualified team-mate Lando Norris.
Piastri’s second place marks the first time that a McLaren driver has ever qualified in the top five positions at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
With third place in qualifying for the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz recorded his best Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying result to date.
Sainz remains yet to out-qualify his team-mate in any of his eight appearances at Baku City Circuit.
2024 is the first time that both Ferrari drivers have qualified in the top three at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Qualifying fourth, Sergio Perez became the tenth Formula 1 driver to reach Q3 on 150 occasions.
Perez out-qualified Max Verstappen for the first time since the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, 34 race weekends ago.
This was the first time since 2017 that neither Red Bull driver qualified in the top three at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Baku City Circuit remains one of only two on the current calendar – along with the Las Vegas Strip Circuit – at which Verstappen has never taken pole position.
This was the first time since 2016 that Verstappen qualified outside of the top five positions in Azerbaijan.
Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton maintained their record of reaching Q3 in every race weekend held to date at Baku City Circuit.
With eighth place, Fernando Alonso maintained his record of out-qualifying his team-mate on every appearance to date in Azerbaijan.
Franco Colapinto reached Q3 for the first time in his Formula 1 career at the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. With both Colapinto and Alex Albon qualifying in the top ten, this was the first time Williams saw both cars reach Q3 since the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
This was Williams’ first Q3 appearance in Azerbaijan since 2017.
Colapinto is the first Argentine driver to qualify in the top ten since Carlos Reutemann, who qualified sixth on his final F1 appearance at the 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix.
For the first time since the 2022 British Grand Prix, Albon was out-qualified by his team-mate in Grand Prix qualifying.
Albon reached Q3 for a third consecutive race. It’s the first time he’s qualified in the top ten at three races in a row since the 2023 Canadian, Austrian and British Grands Prix. This was Albon’s first Q3 appearance in Azerbaijan.
OUT IN Q2
For the first time since 2019, both Haas drivers progressed to Q2 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Substituting for Kevin Magnussen, Ollie Bearman made his second Formula 1 qualifying appearance at the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. For the second time, Bearman qualified 11th.
Bearman equalled Haas’ best-ever Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying result. Romain Grosjean qualified 11th here with the team in 2016.
Bearman out-qualified team-mate Nico Hulkenberg – making this the first time Hulkenberg has been out-qualified by a team-mate since the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix.
With Bearman 11th and Hulkenberg 14th, Haas remain the only current team yet to reach Q3 at Baku City Circuit.
Hulkenberg recorded his third Q2 elimination in Baku, equalling Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo, Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen as the driver with the most Q2 exits at Baku City Circuit.
Yuki Tsunoda’s 12th place in qualifying for the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix marked the first time in his four appearances at the event that he has not reached Q3 nor qualified in eighth place.
With Tsunoda 12th and Daniel Ricciardo 16th, this was the first time since 2018 that the Red Bull junior team did not reach Q3 with either car at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
OUT IN Q1
Daniel Ricciardo, Lando Norris, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu and Esteban Ocon were the five drivers eliminated in the opening stage of qualifying. While this was Zhou’s second consecutive Q1 exit at the track, for every other driver this was their first Q1 elimination at Baku City Circuit.
Lando Norris was the surprise elimination in Q1 at the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with a yellow flag preventing him from improving his time. This was the sixth Q1 exit of his career – his first since the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
This was the first time since the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix that Norris qualified outside of the top five positions. Norris had never previously qualified outside of the top 11 positions in Baku.
Norris’ Q1 exit ended McLaren’s 100% Q3 appearance rate in 2024. It means that Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri are now the only drivers who’ve qualified in the top ten at every race in 2024.
This was the first time in the Sauber team’s history that they recorded a double Q1 exit at Baku City Circuit.
Zhou Guanyu – who will start from the pit-lane – qualified on the back row for the fourth race in a row.
For the first time since the 2022 Miami Grand Prix – where he failed to set a lap time – Esteban Ocon was slowest of the 20 drivers in qualifying for the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
This was the first time Ocon qualified outside of the top 13 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.