BAKU (Reuters) - Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took pole position in Baku for the third year in a row at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with a scorching lap that ended Red Bull’s run of qualifying domination.
The pole, in a session twice red-flagged early on due to crashes, was Ferrari’s first of the Formula One season after Red Bull had qualified fastest in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia.
Red Bull’s championship leader Max Verstappen will line up alongside on the front row with his team mate Sergio Perez third.
There was nothing to separate him and Verstappen after the initial flying laps, with both clocking one minute 40.445 seconds but the Red Bull driver on provisional pole due to setting his time first.
Leclerc made sure he got his second lap in first, lowering the benchmark to 1:40.203 -- with Verstappen unable to beat it and ending up 0.188 slower.
Verstappen, winner in Baku last year, was sanguine about the session.