00:00What can Verstappen do across the line for his first proper time?
00:03A 1.43.644. It's good, but his teammate Sergio Perez is going quicker by over two tenths of a second
00:12in these early stages. The man who is the most successful around this circuit, who has been
00:17fighting for his career over the last course of this season, goes to the top of the time.
00:21Tenth compared to Perez. Charles Leclerc, fastest of anybody in the middle sector, and we talk about
00:26Baku specialists, you can't forget Leclerc. He goes second fastest, so not quite as good as Perez.
00:32Only in his second ever Formula One race weekend to come to a track that he's never been at.
00:37Yeah, it was Oskar Piastri, I was mentioning there, that he's been ahead of Kolopinto.
00:42Sorry, but Piastri and Norris, I'll tell you what was fastest in the final sector, just going up
00:47into fifth spot ahead of Kolopinto. Then comes Albon, the two Williams drivers, and Torkov.
00:53Kolopinto, that was a little bit close for comfort coming through the left-hander of turn 15.
01:00We've seen many a driver come close. Indeed, Carlos Sainz decides he'll just cut the corner instead.
01:06So let's have a look here.
01:10The car is jumping around like crazy on the rear axle.
01:16Oh, a bit of a wiggle there for Sainz on what is normally a comfortably flat-out kink.
01:23But at the rear, the car did not look settled. Sainz never actually has outqualified a teammate
01:28here. Highest qualifying of fourth back in 2023 and the year before, but a good opening effort
01:35from the Spaniard. Piastri's middle sector wasn't an improvement, whereas Norris has improved.
01:40We'll see if the last sector is any better. No, so Piastri moves up in position, but I think Norris
01:46might just jump ahead of him here. We'll see as he comes up to the timing line, and he does jump
01:52slightly ahead of him. So Russell needs to go again. So too does Valtteri Bottas, as the Williams
01:58just taps the wall. And was that Kolopinto who is pushing hard out there, and it's showing him the
02:03times, but he's got to be careful. But the team won't mind now, because this is the time to push.
02:07This is qualifying, this is the time to push. Of course, they've got a car capable of getting into
02:12Q3. It's a big slide there for Oliver. We know a toe doesn't work in those sections of the track,
02:18but Leclerc just a little bit luckier in that final sector, and that's made all the difference
02:23there across those two drivers. Russell fastest in the middle sector and got, I think, a lovely bit
02:28of time. See what Verstappen can do on this lap third. Okay, so he's safe now. This is not what
02:34we expected with every lap that goes by. Yellow flag in sector three as well. That's going to
02:38scupper some people if it doesn't go their way. Piastri gets himself up into third. Still not as
02:44quick as Alex Zarbon, though. Norris now in that danger zone. Sainz is only 15th too. Lando Norris,
02:51personal best. Bottas won't make it through. Norris is boxing. Norris isn't going to make
02:55it out of Q1. Lando Norris boxing on his final lap that season out of qualifying. All this talk
03:03about is Piastri going to help him, the team orders, all this stuff. That wasn't... I'm sorry.
03:12Let's have a look here at this replay, Bernie. We'll come to you in a second. Let's have a look
03:15at this. Turn 16. There's a yellow panel flashing there. Ah, he got on the exit curve at 16. So
03:23there's a scrappy, but there was a panel flashing, and I wonder if the flashing panel there meant he
03:28didn't have the use of DRS. That was a scrappy exit there. So yeah, I was just trying to work
03:34out, because you spotted Ocon going slowly, didn't you? And you wonder whether... Oh, Williams came
03:39out in a rush out of the traffic. We'll see if that is being investigated as unsafe release.
03:45Piastri being released into the park. That was tight. Yeah, Piastri and Colopinto. Yeah.
03:52Um, so, you know, Ocon was moving, wasn't he? Ferrari's on a used set of tires on this first
03:58run of Q2, because they want to make sure they got two new sets for Q3, and Leclerc
04:04sets the benchmark of 8.43.4, some way off what we saw him do in Q1. Yeah, building back up again,
04:11but I wonder how much more track evolution we're going to see over the course of this session.
04:14Let's see what he can do across the line. So McLaren have gone for a new set of tires,
04:18because as Ted was saying before, they went back out on used tires at the end of Q1. So Piastri
04:25got through Q1 with just one set of tires, and now he's coming up to the timing line,
04:30and will go fastest on a brand new set, a 42.598. Just compromised his exit, and I don't know if
04:39it's going to affect his final sector. He does go fastest, a 42.0. That's a strong time from
04:45Max Verstappen on a brand new set of tires, and for a change, this weekend, two tenths ahead.
04:51George Russell comes up to the line, and improves slightly, but only fourth fastest outing. But a
04:57little bit of a worry though, because he gets ahead of Carlos Sainz. Albon's just jumped up to
05:02seventh. Tsunoda up to eighth. Hulkenberg, Hamilton, Colopinto, Alonso, and Stroll,
05:08all in that bottom five, as Hamilton crosses the line to put himself only seventh fastest.
05:13Can Behrmann join it, both in their second Formula One weekend? Behrmann does,
05:17just though, gets up on the periphery in the top ten. I think that might be it,
05:23I don't see anyone improving. Oh no, Albon has just... Has Albon just jumped ahead of him?
05:30Albon then, no, he's down in turn six. So it looked like Behrmann, I wonder
05:34if we'll see what that happened. But Colopinto then, with a brilliant result, up to sixth.
05:40Alonso is the one who's knocked Behrmann.
05:51And you can hear the elation in Franco Colopinto's voice. He will go through to Q3 for the first time
05:58in his Formula One career. Well, let's have a look down in the pit lane. There is a Williams
06:02just edging out, that is Colopinto, and Albon tells Perez to come to a stop.
06:07Sainz is the fastest man in the first sector. Yeah, but Piastri on a used set of tyres has
06:11done a very strong middle sector there. 41.09 compared to Leclerc's best of 40.98. Only a tenth
06:18down on a used set, so that bodes well for when he gets a new set of tyres. Here he is coming up
06:23to the timing line, does go fastest ahead of the two Mercedes on a new set of tyres. Leclerc pips
06:31him, but only by a couple of tenths. Nice lap from Piastri, better lap from Charles Leclerc,
06:38but what about Carlos Sainz to the line? Makes it a Ferrari 1-2. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez
06:46both back in action this weekend. What's Verstappen got on his opening gambit? Fifth behind
06:51the Mercedes of Russell and the McLaren of Piastri. In Monza, wasn't it, at the end of qualifying. So
06:56that is a huge gap. Let's see what Perez can do. He does slot in ahead of Verstappen, but still
07:03only fifth. Oh, you know, four tenths down. Let's see, did something happen to Verstappen then on
07:08that lap? Oh, well that will cost you a bit of time. Okay, that explains it. So in the final
07:15sector, Verstappen did a 25.35, Perez a 25.06. The Williams has pulled over on the left-hand side,
07:24let the two Ferraris pass. So that is an example. The Williams still has the airbox fan in.
07:32Oh, what an error. Disaster for Williams. Albon with still the airbox cooler. Yeah, well it's a
07:42fan. They put a fan in there to blow. Here's a replay. He pulls out. There's the fan. You could
07:49see it there. I'm impressed Piastri saw that. Here comes George Russell then. DRS open. No toe in
07:57front of him. Crosses the line. Improves his time. Stays fourth. Next across the line, Lewis Hamilton.
08:03Can he out-qualify his teammate or will Russell clinch that battle? No. Russell wins the war when
08:08it comes to qualifying head-to-head. Hamilton only down in seventh. The track really not massively
08:13improving, but for Oscar Piastri, he gets up into second. Splits the Ferraris and can
08:19Charles Leclerc, who's currently on provisional pole, take it by even more of a margin. Stein secures
08:24third. Charles Leclerc fastest of anybody in the middle sector. Perez has lost time in the middle
08:30sector. This start for this straight seems like an age for Verstappen. He crosses the line. He moves
08:36up into fifth, but Sergio Perez, what can he do? He crosses the line. It's only fourth for Perez.
08:42The Baku specialist for Perez will have to deal with fourth, but for Charles Leclerc, it's another pole
08:50around the streets of Baku. Alex Albon with the airbox still in. And pole position. No chance for
08:57anyone else. That was beautiful. Let's go. Yes. Nice. Good job, boys.
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