Carlos Sainz Jnr out-qualified his team mate for the fourth event in a row in Baku – and he did it in style.
The driver who will join pole-winner Max Verstappen on the front row of the grid tomorrow has moved ahead in the qualifying battle at his new team. Here’s more data from today’s qualifying session.
Gaps between team mates
Once again there was almost nothing to choose between the McLaren drivers, though Oscar Piastri failed to set a lap time in the final round after crashing. He was far from the only driver to do so.
Alexander Albon hit the wall in the first round of qualifying after being the first driver to set a lap time, which explains why the gap between him and Sainz was so large.
Team mate battles
The intra-team battle at Williams has swung back and forth all season. Albon qualified ahead in the first three rounds, but after four more events Sainz had overturned his advantage. Albon hit back, pulling as far as 7-4 ahead, but Sainz has now beaten him in five of the last six grand prix qualifying sessions.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli out-qualified George Russell for the first time since the Miami Grand Prix, 10 rounds ago. Liam Lawson also achieved a rare win over Isack Hadjar, and as with Sainz it was his best qualifying position of the season so far.
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Fernando Alonso 16 – 0 Lance Stroll
George Russell 15 – 2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Max Verstappen 14 – 0 Yuki Tsunoda
Charles Leclerc 13 – 4 Lewis Hamilton
Isack Hadjar 11 – 4 Liam Lawson
Gabriel Bortoleto 11 – 6 Nico Hulkenberg
Oliver Bearman 9 – 7 Esteban Ocon
Oscar Piastri 9 – 8 Lando Norris
Carlos Sainz Jnr 9 – 8 Alexander Albon
Pierre Gasly 5 – 3 Franco Colapinto
Streaks
Verstappen and the McLaren drivers kept up their record of reaching Q3 at every event this season. However Verstappen now has the most pole positions of any driver this year.
Out-qualified team mate
| Rank | Driver | Streak |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fernando Alonso | 28 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | 23 |
| 3 | Gabriel Bortoleto | 7 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | 5 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | 4 |
| 6 | Oliver Bearman | 2 |
| = | Lando Norris | 2 |
| 8 | Franco Colapinto | 1 |
| = | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | 1 |
| = | Liam Lawson | 1 |
Out-qualified by team mate
| Rank | Driver | Streak |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lance Stroll | 28 |
| 2 | Yuki Tsunoda | 15 |
| 3 | Nico Hulkenberg | 7 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | 5 |
| 5 | Alexander Albon | 4 |
| 6 | Esteban Ocon | 2 |
| = | Oscar Piastri | 2 |
| 8 | Isack Hadjar | 1 |
| = | Pierre Gasly | 1 |
| = | George Russell | 1 |
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Q1 eliminations and Q3 appearances
Eliminated in Q1
| Rank | Driver | Streak |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Franco Colapinto | 3 |
| 2 | Pierre Gasly | 2 |
| 3 | Nico Hulkenberg | 1 |
| = | Alexander Albon | 1 |
| = | Esteban Ocon | 1 |
Reached Q3
| Rank | Driver | Streak |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lando Norris | 24 |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | 21 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | 20 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | 10 |
| 5 | George Russell | 9 |
| 6 | Yuki Tsunoda | 2 |
| = | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | 2 |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | 1 |
| = | Isack Hadjar | 1 |
| = | Liam Lawson | 1 |
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