Charles Leclerc takes magnificent pole in Baku as Hamilton faces possible grid penalty

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 is in third place, one spot ahead of Ferrari's Carlos Sainz. George Russell out-qualified Mercedes-AMG teammate Hamilton for the fifth time in eight rounds this season.

Leclerc delivers yet again in qualifying ??#AzerbaijanGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ngvKg2tBwp

Penalty pending

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 1.6secs behind Leclerc and two tenths adrift of Russell, appeared to delay fellow countryman Lando Norris in the final minutes of Q2. While Hamilton progressed to the top-10 shootout, Norris was eliminated and finished 11th.

READ: WRAP | 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Charles Leclerc on pole after stunning final run

Norris' race engineer Will Joseph said to his driver of Hamilton: "He is the lead car, he will get in trouble. Don't let him play silly b******."

After claiming his sixth pole of the season and fourth in succession, Leclerc said: "All poles feel good, but this one I did not expect because I thought the Red Bulls were stronger. But the last lap came together, and I am extremely happy. I am really excited for tomorrow."

CHARLES: “It feels good. This one I