Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Qualifying Recap

Both Magnussen and Schumacher were knocked out of qualifying at the end of the opening Q1 stage. Their respective fastest laps – a 1:44.643 for Magnussen and a 1:45.775 for Schumacher – were set on their first stint on new sets of Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires.

While attempting their second round of flying laps on fresh rubber both were slowed by an off from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll at Turn 7 – the Canadian crashing again shortly thereafter causing a red flag stop with just two minutes and 30 seconds of the session remaining.

Neither Magnussen or Schumacher could better their earlier times as Q1 ended – both pitting on their final run having failed to get the necessary sector times banked having been forced to queue to exit the pits with the clock ticking away.

Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claimed his sixth pole position of the season in Q3 taking the top spot in Baku with a best lap of 1:41.359 ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez in P2.

Kevin Magnussen, Driver No. 20, Haas F1 Team

“When the red flag comes out and there’s just enough time to go out for another lap, the people at the back of the queue always struggle to get through before the time runs out. Being the first in the pitlane you’re always stuck as soon as there are two or three cars queuing up, you can’t get out, so we missed out on that last lap. We’re P16, but it’s a long day tomorrow.”

 

Mick Schumacher, Driver No. 47, Haas F1 Team

“We knew it was going to be tight, so it’s frustrating not to get the lap in as I think there would’ve been more potential in it. We were behind Lance when he had his mistake which cost my lap, meaning we only had one lap – which was the first run – and track improvement is quite big around here. It felt like the race had already started but it’s Baku and there are a lot of opportunities. It will be a tough but hopefully enjoyable race tomorrow.”

 

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal of Haas F1 Team

“In FP3, I think we got some of the performance back that we lost yesterday, and we were actually looking forward to qualifying. We didn’t make it out of Q1 for various reasons – between yellow flags and chaos at our last attempt when we were not allowed to get in the queue – we had to wait until the last car and it’s just not possible to do anymore. Unfortunately, that happened, and we keep saying we’re unlucky and at some stage it will change, but we know we can do better than this. Let’s see, hopefully tomorrow we can get lucky.”

 

Today's Data

Event: Qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Saturday June 11
Location: Baku City Circuit
Layout: 6.003-kilometer (3.730-mile), 20-turn circuit
Weather: Sunny
Air Temps: 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit)
Team Result: Kevin Magnussen qualified 16th, Mick Schumacher qualified 20th 

Free Practice 3 Rundown:

Magnussen: 15th overall (1:44.919), 17 laps completed
Schumacher: 18th overall (1:45.532), 19 laps completed
Fastest: Sergio Perez of Red Bull Racing (1:43.170)

Q1 Qualifying: 18-mins with all 20 drivers – Top 15 advance to Q2

Magnussen: 16th overall (1:44.643) 
Schumacher: 20th overall (1:45.775) 
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:42.722)

Q2 Qualifying: 15-mins – Top 10 advance to Q3

Fastest: Sergio Perez of Red Bull Racing (1:41.955) 

Q3 Qualifying: 12-mins featuring the Top 10 

Pole Winner: Charles Leclerc of Scuderia Ferrari (1:41.359)