Q1
The Williams of Alex Albon kicked things off in qualifying as he posted a 1:30.967. Bottas was the first driver in the 1:29s on a 1:29.964.
Verstappen then banged in a 1:28.424 to go almost a second clear of Kevin Magnussen. Sergio Pérez put in a good first lap to beat his stablemate by 0.118s. Gasly and Ocon in the Alpines slotted into P3 and P4 six minutes in.
On their first laps, Leclerc and Sainz vaulted up to P2 and P4 respectively, splitting the Red Bulls. Alonso would beat his fellow Spaniard to take that spot.
Perez led Leclerc, Verstappen, Alonso, Magnussen, Sainz, Gasly, Guanyu, Bottas and Ocon halfway through.
Tsunoda, Norris, Russell, De Vries and Hamilton found themselves in the bottom five.
Lewis Hamilton had a hairy moment with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen as he had to avoid the Dane in the braking zone of turn 17.
Verstappen stamped his authority on the field once again with a 1:27.363 putting him on top, 0.3s clear of Pérez and half a second ahead of Leclerc.
Sainz, Alonso, Stroll, Magnussen, Ocon, Gasly and Hamilton completed the top 10 with five minutes remaining.
A stonking lap from Alex Albon on his new softs moved him up to P5 as the track continued to evolve massively. Nico Hülkenberg would slot into P4 moments later, with Bottas vaulting up to P5.
Improvements from the AlphaTauris put Hamilton and Russell in the relegation zone with three minutes left on the clock, along with Sargeant and the two McLarens.
A great lap from Kevin Magnussen moved him into 3rd as Haas showed really promising pace.
Mercedes escaped at the end as Hamilton managed to get himself into P6. Russell was a couple of tenths slower than his teammate as he ended up P11.
After a bad start to the year, a great lap from Nyck de Vries saw the Dutchman squeeze through in P15.
The massive shock was Lance Stroll who got bumped out in Q1 as he could only manage 18th. He was 0.297s off Alonso as the Spaniard was 12th.
Norris, Tsunoda, Stroll, Piastri and home hero Sargeant departed at the end of Q1. Only 1.2s covered the 20 cars in the first session.
Q2
Red Bull got straight out on track in the middle segment of qualifying and Verstappen pumped in a 1:27.110, 0.218s faster than teammate Pérez.
Fernando Alonso found a lot of improvement from Q1 as a 1:27.498 put him 3rd ahead of Hülkenberg and Magnussen. Russell, Hamilton and Guanyu were the only other drivers to have posted a time six minutes in.
The Alpines continued their strong run as Ocon and Gasly moved ahead of the two Haas cars.
Following a tough weekend in Baku, Carlos Sainz showed he’s back on form this weekend as he split the Red Bulls, with Leclerc going P5.
Verstappen led Sainz, Pérez, Alonso, Leclerc, Ocon, Albon, Gasly, Hülkenberg and Magnussen ahead of the final runs.
Russell, Hamilton, Guanyu, De Vries and Bottas found themselves in the bottom five with five minutes to go.
A cracking lap from Valtteri Bottas moved him into P6 with three minutes left on the clock, finding 0.3s compared to his Q1 lap.
It was the World Champion who ended up quickest as a 1:26.814 put him a tenth and a half clear of Leclerc. Fernando Alonso found over a second from his Q1 time to finish a strong 3rd.
Sainz, Pérez, Ocon, Bottas, Gasly, Magnussen and Russell joined them in the final part of qualifying.
Mistakes on both his qualifying laps left Lewis Hamilton as a spectator. He was 13th and missed out by a couple of tenths.
Alex Albon narrowly missed making Q3. He was pipped by Russell to P10 by 0.052. Albon, Hülkenberg, Hamilton, Guanyu and de Vries was the order of the drivers bumped out.
Q3
On his first flying lap, Verstappen had to back out of it as he had two major moments in the first sector.
Sergio Pérez did a 1:26.841 to set the benchmark, followed by Alonso and Sainz.
Setting a purple middle sector, Leclerc looked to be threatening Pérez’s time but locked up at turn 17 and threw it away. He could only go P7.
Pérez, Alonso, Sainz, Magnussen, Gasly, Russell, Leclerc, Ocon, Verstappen and Bottas was the order with five minutes remaining.
Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool
Qualifying ended early as Charles Leclerc crashed for the second time in two days as he lost it over the kerb at turn 6 and hit the wall. There was not enough time left to resume the session.
It’s a third career pole for Sergio Pérez and has a golden opportunity to take the championship lead tomorrow. Kevin Magnussen was an outstanding P4 for Haas.
