Charles Leclerc on pole for Azerbaijan GP as Lewis Hamilton faces stewards

Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari on pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton facing a stewards’ investigation for “driving unnecessarily slowly”.

Leclerc, who trails leader Max Verstappen by nine points in the championship standings, bounced back from his Monaco misery a fortnight ago, to blow away his rivals.

The Monegasque saw off Sergio Perez, who took advantage of Leclerc’s flat-footed Ferrari team in Monte Carlo to claim his third career win, by 0.282 seconds.

World champion Verstappen lines up in third place, one spot ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. George Russell out-qualified teammate Hamilton for the fifth time in eight rounds this season.

Russell will start fifth on Sunday, two places ahead of Hamilton, who could drop further down the field if he is penalised for his qualifying misdemeanour.

Hamilton, who finished an eye-watering 1.6 secs behind Leclerc and two tenths adrift of Russell, appeared to delay fellow countryman Lando Norris in the final minutes of Q2.

FIFTEEN POLE POSITIONS IN FORMULA ONE