Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Max Verstappen takes pole after record six red flags

Leclerc’s crash made it another dire day for Ferrari after Hamilton failed to make the top-10 shootout.

The session ran for two hours and the six red-flag stoppages broke a record that had previously been tied by the 2022 Emilia-Romagna and 2024 Sao Paulo Grands Prix.

The first person to crash was Williams’ Alex Albon, who hit the inside apex at Turn One, causing the first of three red-flag stoppages in the first session.

Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg caused the second, by crashing at Turn Four, and the session ended a few seconds early after both Alpine drivers made mistakes at the same corner after the restart.

Pierre Gasly first sped up the escape road, before his team-mate Franco Colapinto misjudged his entry into the same corner, despite waved yellow flags, and crashed on the exit.

Haas driver Oliver Bearman then brought out the next red flag when he oversteered into the wall on the exit of Turn Two early in the second session. The session then ran to the end without incident, although Piastri hit the wall on the exit of Turn 15 but was able to carry on with his lap.

The excitement was increased during the stoppages in the final session because light rain was starting to fall, which may have influenced the crashes of Leclerc and Piastri.

Leclerc, who had been on pole in Baku for the past four years, went straight on into the tyre barrier at Turn 15, before Piastri did the same thing at Turn Three on the restart.