Charles Leclerc storms to pole position from Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc produced a stunning lap to snatch pole at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Leclerc trailed Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz going into the final minutes of the session, but he posted a time of 1:41.359 to take pole.

Ad/> A Ferrari front-row lockout was denied by Sergio Perez, who hooked it up superbly to take second — with his Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen in third. Azerbaijani Grand PrixPerez quickest ahead of Leclerc at FP3, Hamilton 12th3 HOURS AGO There were positive signs for Mercedes, as both Lewis Hamilton and team-mate George Russell made it into Q3 — albeit the former complained of the car “bottoming a dangerous amount” as it continued to porpoise.

The weekend has been notable for a number of complaints from drivers aimed at their peers, and Russell got in on the action early in Q1, complaining that Verstappen was, 'driving in an erratic manner,' but it was Lance Stroll who would go on to cause the most chaos. Stroll rolled into a barrier at turn seven, before being able to restart under the auspices of a yellow flag, but after being checked out for damage he then hit another wall earlier in the track, and lost the front right wing, and damaged the right axle, bringing a red flag.

That interrupted the flow of Q1 and Kevin Magnussen, Alex Albon, Nicolas Latifi and Michael Schumacher were all cut alongside the Aston Martin man. Perez quickest ahead of Leclerc at FP3, Hamilton 12th 'We'll take it back' — Leclerc aiming to regain championship lead ahead of Baku GP 'A bit sore' — Hamilton's bouncing struggles continue in Baku, Russell calls for action Q2 started in much the same manner as Stroll's teammate and former world champion Sebastian Vettel also failed to turn away from a barrier at a turn, but he