Full results from qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit, round four of the 2019 Formula 1 season.<doc-sep>Clive Mason/Getty Images Ferrari posted the two quickest times in the second free practice on an eventful but limited day of practice sessions at the 2019 Azerbaijan Formula One grand prix in Baku. Charles Leclerc registered a quicker time than team-mate Sebastian Vettel. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton was third-fastest with a personal-best time on this circuit. Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen split the Mercedes drivers, posting a time faster than Valtteri Bottas. The first practice session was stopped prematurely due to a dislodged manhole cover that damaged the Williams vehicle of George Russell, per James Galloway of Sky Sports F1. Leclerc wasn't going to be deterred in his bid to post the quickest laps, not even after he collided with the wall: The Monaco native was firing a warning to Mercedes about his team's capability to close the gap in the standings come race day. While Bottas was struggling to answer the challenge, Hamilton was at least doing his best to produce laps closer to Leclerc's speed: It wasn't all about Mercedes and Ferrari, though. Red Bull was managing a creditable showing, thanks largely to the efforts of Verstappen, who made the most of a smart tyre change: Video Play Button Videos you might like There was an interruption when Racing Point's Lance Stroll went into the barriers early on. After the events of the abbreviated FP1, red flags were becoming a familiar sight. After yet another red flag after Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat went into the barriers at Turn 7, Ferrari took the chance to get back on track first. Leclerc and Vettel went in pursuit of longer runs, opting for controlled driving, rather than choosing to put their cars through their paces. Leclerc was on the softs, but the choice didn't make much difference in terms of speed over Hamilton. The defending champion was travelling swiftly enough on the mediums. There was a late clash between Hamilton and Kevin Magnussen as the session drew to a close. The Haas driver appeared to cut across Hamilton, resulting in the front wing of the Mercedes car being clipped. While it wasn't a major incident, the slight coming together seemed like a fitting way to end a day littered with red flags and undone by an on-track hazard.<doc-sep>Baku Qualifying: Bottas stumps them all Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas claimed pole position for the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix after an incident-packed and dramatic qualifying session at the Baku City Circuit with Lewis Hamilton second quickest for another Silver Arrows front row. After keeping their powder dry throughout the morning session allowing the paddock to wallow in the dream of a Ferrari lock-out for qualifying. But when the World Champs turned up the wick their ‘Wingman’ delivered to his obvious delight. Stumping them all, meaning not only his rivals, but also media, pundits, experts, armchair sages, visionaries, etc. No one predicted that and the wickedly naughty chuckle when he told he had snatched pole told the whole story. Bottas is clearly enjoying this. Earlier during Q1, Robert Kubica bent his Williams severely when he crashed through the tricky castle section. This brought out the red flag as the damaged car was recovered. About 15-minutes later when the session resumed Charles Leclerc also crashed in the exact same spot (as Kubica) after overshooting his braking point when he looked a sure bet for pole position. Thereafter the session got trickier as it went into hours in the day the drivers had not previously experienced. but Bottas rose to the occasion in the final run of Q3 – under the radar and out of the blue – he popped a superb 1:40.495 which was a tad faster than his teammate who briefly topped the timing screens. Bottas said afterwards, “It’s a nice feeling to get it on the last lap. Ferrari have been really strong. Charles was out by a mistake and as a team we did a really good job after such a difficult practice.” “It’s all about small margins and I got a good tow on the last lap. The corners I had to drive as well but it’s fine details and I hit the sweet spot.” Second-placed Hamilton added, “It’s been so close all weekend. Ferrari have looked incredibly quick and Valtteri did an exceptional job.” “This is a massively great result for us. We came here without an upgrade, the Ferraris looked particularly quick and also Max – for us to lock out the front row in the circumstances I’m really grateful for and puts us in a fighting position tomorrow.” “Pace-wise we are slightly closer in race trim than it seemed in qualifying. Valtteri is always quick here and I’ve had my work cut out this weekend,” added Hamilton. For Ferrari it was bitter disappointment, fooled to believe they had a good package, when the cards were down again Mercedes trumped them in an embarrassing matter. Prior to Leclerc bending metal, pole position was already annexed but the crunch of Tecpro on carbon-fibre shocked just about everyone that witnessed the shunt. It did not get much better thereafter as Sebastian Vettel simply did not have the firepower to match the silver cars… yet again. He will start from third. Asked if Merc stole pole, Vettel said, “I don’t know if they stole it, I think they were a bit quicker than us today.” “For me it started a bit slow, towards the end it was getting better but it was quite tricky, the session was very long, the sun was going down. It was difficult to find the right balance of pushing in the out lap and playing with tow. “I had a good lap but I had no tow to close the lap and that cost a bit. I think we got sort of the maximum out but we were expecting to have a better session with Charles and myself being closer to the front.” Three-tenths of a second separated the top three. Half a second down on the top time was Max Verstappen in the Red Bull using the Spec-2 Honda engine package, which also served Daniil Kvyat well with six place in the Toro Rosso. Splitting the fizzy drinks pair on the timing screens was the pure water purveyor Sergio Perez in the Racing Point in fifth, while the son of the team’s owner failed to make it out of Q3, in which Lance Stroll was four-tenths of a second slower than his teammate. With seventh place, Lando Norris again saved face for the Renault-powered posse, using easily the worst power unit of the four marques on the grid, the rookie thumped his more experienced teammate and both of the works team veterans. Antonio Giovinazzi was all smiles when he savoured his first Q1 appearance and eighth place in the Alfa Romeo, a tenth faster than Kimi Raikkonen in the sister car who will line-up ninth on the grid. Before he crashed, Leclerc did enough to make it into Q1, and thus (if the chassis does not have to be replaced) he should start from tenth on the grid. FIA Blow-By-Blow Report In Q1, Vettel led the early exchanges, setting a time of 1:42.348. His Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, who had held sway in every practice session, soon bypassed that and his lap of 1:41.426, established a tough benchmark. Verstappen, meanwhile, suffered a lock-up into Turn 7 on his opening run and his first lap left him in down in P12. On an improving track he was left vulnerable and he returned to the pit lane for a fresh set of tyres and prepared for another attempt. Hamilton was also having difficulty finding the sweet spot with tyres and after overcooking his entry to Turn 3 he was forced to take the escape road. He too would require more laps to make his way through to Q2, but eventually climbed to third place above Verstappen. Gasly then provided proof of the rapid track evolution. The Frenchman who is facing a pit lane starting after being penalised for a missing a call to the weighbridge in FP2, set the quickest first sector on his second run. Then, benefiting from a tow provided by Stroll, he crossed the line in just 1:41.335 to claim a top spot he held until the chequered flag.<doc-sep>Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes trails his teammate in the 2019 Drivers’ Championship, but he has another pole position going into Sunday’s Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The race is set to begin bright and early at 8 a.m. ET on ESPN2. It will also be live streamed via WatchESPN, ESPN App, and F1 TV Pro. Bottas finished just ahead of Lewis Hamilton, his teammate, while Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari once again has the third spot on the grid. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari failed to set a time after a qualifying crash, and will have to start from ninth on the grid. Carlos Sainz Jr. is behind Leclerc at 10th. “I deserve what happened today,” Leclerc told Sky. “I am very, very sad for what happened but I deserve it. I’ve been stupid as I said on the radio. I calmed down but I still think I’ve been stupid, this doesn’t change.” Leclerc felt he had a chance at pole position, and now will have some real overtaking to do to catch up to his teammate, let alone the two Mercedes cars. After Vettel, as usual, is Max Verstappen of Red Bull. The other Red Bull, though, will have to start the race from the pit lane after missing the weigh bridge in practice. That’s the car of Pierre Gasly, who also took a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change and was excluded from qualifying for exceeding the maximum fuel flow limit. Instead of Gasly, it will be Sergio Perez of Racing Point behind Verstappen. Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso, Lando Norris of McLaren and Kimi Raikkonen of Alfa Romeo round out the rest of the top 10 from qualifying. Mercedes utilized a tactic in the third qualifying session that they believe won qualifying for them. They sent their cars out near the end of the session and as usual, Vettel followed suit. But they stopped at the end of the pit lane and let Vettel and the rest of the pack go by, getting clear — and cooler — track at the back. “The tow effect is massive,” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said. “Between minimum tow following other cars within a few seconds, which can gain you between one and three tenths, and the mother-of-all-tows that can gain you around Baku maybe six tenths, it is a real disadvantage. Cars in front of you that cut a hole in the air is really good around here and advantageous. “o it was a double whammy: [Vettel] was out [by] himself, no tow, and the ambient temperatures and track temperatures came towards us. “At the end our car got better the colder it went.” Below is all you need to watch the action on Sunday, including the full starting grid. How to watch the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Date: Sunday, April 28 Location: Baku City Circuit, Baku Time: 8 a.m. ET TV: ESPN2 Online Streaming: WatchESPN, ESPN App, F1 TV Pro<doc-sep>
Mark Thompson/Getty Images Valtteri Bottas will start the 2019 Azerbaijan Formula One Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday after beating Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to top spot in a dramatic qualifying session. Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel took third place behind the two Silver Arrows, but team-mate Charles Leclerc will start down in 10th place after crashing in Q2. Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen will start alongside Vettel in fourth, while Racing Point's Sergio Perez will start from an impressive fifth place on the grid. Here are the results from qualifying: Ferrari dominated the practice sessions and did the same early during the first qualifying session, as Leclerc became the first driver to duck underneath the one-minute, 42-second mark. Mercedes took some time finding their footing but eventually improved, bridging the gap there had been during practice. Red Bull also found some pace late in the session, with Pierre Gasly knocking the Monegasque out of the top spot. The Frenchman knew his eventual finishing position in qualifying wouldn't mean much, as he'll start from the pit lane: Video Play Button Videos you might like Renault struggled in FP2 and didn't have a great outing in FP3, either, and their start to qualifying was hardly ideal. Minutes into the first session, Daniel Ricciardo was told the team had no data, leaving him without crucial info on a busy track: The Australian eventually worked himself out of the drop zone after a difficult session, shortly before Williams' Robert Kubica shunted, bringing out the red flag. Nico Hulkenberg and Romain Grosjean were among the drivers to miss out on Q2. The shunt was a big one: Drivers were forced to wait while the track was cleared, adding an extra element of strategy. As the temperature dropped, Ferrari took a risk by opting for medium tyres, while everyone else ventured out on the soft compound. Leclerc's first time was reasonably close to that of the Silver Arrows, but Vettel was well off the pace. Once Perez went faster than the younger Ferrari driver, it became clear the Scuderia had made a tactical error. But things got much worse for the team shortly after. Leclerc, who had been the fastest man on track for most of the weekend, hit the wall in the same spot Kubica did, ending his session. The 21-year-old was furious with himself: The crash brought out another red flag and another delay. Liquid coming from the car made things more difficult for the marshals, and the lengthy break meant the end of the session would take place in the fading light. The session eventually restarted with Carlos Sainz, Ricciardo, Alexander Albon, Kevin Magnussen and Gasly all missing out on Q3. Ricciardo will start down in 12th place in the Renault: The final session saw Verstappen, Hamilton, Bottas and Vettel all vying for pole position in a dramatic finish. Bottas was the man to come up with the goods, setting a new track record of 1:40.495 to secure top spot ahead of Hamilton and secure an all Mercedes front row.