{"id":1109,"date":"2025-09-21T19:58:41","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T19:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=1109"},"modified":"2025-09-21T19:58:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T19:58:42","slug":"verstappen-takes-pole-after-wild-session-of-six-red-flag-crashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=1109","title":{"rendered":"Verstappen takes pole after wild session of six red-flag crashes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Max Verstappen tip-toed through the hazards of a wild qualifying session featuring six red-flag stoppages on Saturday to claim pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As series leader Oscar Piastri crashed and his McLaren team-mate and title rival Lando Norris struggled for outright speed on his final lap, Red Bull&#8217;s four-time champion made the most of treacherous damp conditions to end a near-crazy two-hour session on top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ayra Starr - Goodbye (Warm Up) ft. Asake (Official Music Video)\" width=\"980\" height=\"551\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/22PZkwJpu9k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Dutchman clocked a best lap in one minute and 41.117 seconds to finish 0.478 seconds ahead of Williams&#8217; Carlos Sainz and half a second clear of Racing Bulls&#8217; rookie Liam Lawson, who secured his best qualifying result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sainz had made the most of his opportunity in Q3 to go quickest before Ferrari&#8217;s Charles Leclerc crashed to bring a sixth red-flag stoppage that wrecked his hopes of a fifth straight Baku pole \u2013 and deliver a mixed up grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mercedes&#8217; under-pressure rookie Kimi Antonelli and George Russell were fourth and fifth ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull and Norris, who qualified seventh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Racing Bulls&#8217; second rookie Isack Hadjar was eighth ahead of Piastri and Leclerc with two-time champion Fernando Alonso taking 11th for Aston Martin and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton 12th for Ferrari.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was Verstappen&#8217;s first pole in Baku, his sixth of the season and the 46th of his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It was difficult to get a lap together, with all the red flags,&#8221; said Verstappen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;In the final lap, you just have to send it. I wasn&#8217;t even on the best tyres. So, I am happy with the weekend!&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The chaos began in gusty conditions with light drizzle expected and rain threatening for Sunday&#8217;s race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We nailed it today by being on the right tires at the right time,&#8221; said Sainz. &#8220;So tomorrow I will try to stick it on the podium.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Q1 began, Piastri was in the pits for a new front wing while his rivals hurried for an early banker lap, but as he started his first lap, a red flag halted the action when Alex Albon hit the barriers, leaving the Australian in danger of elimination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After eight minutes&#8217; delay, Hamilton went top, Piastri took second, just two seconds before Sauber&#8217;s Nico Hulkenberg hit the wall at Turn Four, triggering a second red flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another eight-minute stoppage followed, after which Russell, Leclerc and then Norris bagged top spot before yet another red flag crash \u2013 Alpine&#8217;s Franco Colapinto at Turn Four \u2013 ended the action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Q2 began after a further 12 minutes&#8217; inaction, but it lasted only three minutes before Oliver Bearman smacked the wall at Turn Two and broke his car&#8217;s rear suspension \u2013 causing a fourth red flag to retrieve his abandoned machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The stop-go-stop-go session was running nearly an hour off schedule by the time Leclerc and Hamilton led them out again before the Monegasque, chasing a fifth consecutive Baku pole and first win, ran deep at Turn One.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Verstappen then stole top spot again as a luckless Hamilton exited along with two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, Gabriel Bortoleto of Sauber, Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin and Haas&#8217;s Oliver Bearman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On cue, rain fell as the top-ten shootout began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s too slippery,&#8221; reported Russell after running deep at Turn Four before Leclerc, the &#8216;Baku maestro&#8217;, hit the wall at Turn 15, his hopes wrecked,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A fifth red flag followed and, with only three drivers&#8217; laps recorded, Sainz was top ahead of the two Racing Bulls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;You can start dancing to see if it rains a bit harder, no?&#8221; said Sainz on team radio before a frantic, dramatic and slippery finale. <a href=\"https:\/\/japantoday.com\/category\/sports\/norris-bounces-back-to-top-final-baku-practice\">(JapanToday)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Max Verstappen tip-toed through the hazards of a wild qualifying session featuring six red-flag stoppages on Saturday to claim pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. As series leader Oscar Piastri crashed and his McLaren team-mate and title rival Lando Norris struggled for outright speed on his final lap, Red Bull&#8217;s four-time champion made the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[1418,1423,1419,1421,1420,1422],"class_list":["post-1109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-azerbaijan-grand-prix","tag-lando-norris","tag-max-verstappen","tag-mclaren","tag-oscar-piastri","tag-red-bull"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Verstappen takes pole after wild session of six red-flag crashes - Tona Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Max Verstappen tip-toed through the hazards of a wild qualifying session featuring six red-flag stoppages on Saturday to claim pole\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=1109\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Verstappen takes pole after wild session of six red-flag crashes - 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