BAKU • Ferrari's Charles Leclerc admitted that he was surprised after he claimed pole for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after a crash-laden, red-flagged qualifying session in Baku yesterday.

Mercedes' world champion Lewis Hamilton will start alongside the Monaco driver, who is looking for quick redemption after taking pole on his home circuit the last time only to retire from the race when his car broke down on the warm-up lap.

"There were like two or three corners where I made a few mistakes but I got a tow from Lewis in the final sector, that helped me," said Leclerc.

"I didn't expect us to be this competitive so I'm happy. The car felt okay but I feel Mercedes and Red Bull have a bit more from us so it will be difficult tomorrow."

Leclerc owed some of his time of 1min 41.218sec to Hamilton, who was in front of him for his first flying lap and, without wanting to, provided a hefty aerodynamic "tow" down the long straight.

Hamilton has a record 100 pole positions but his front-row placing was perhaps an even bigger surprise than Leclerc's result, with Mercedes struggling for pace all through practice.

The Briton thanked his team for a job well done after "struggling all weekend" and failing to record a top-five timing in the first two practice sessions.

He said: "We definitely weren't expecting that. This is such a monumental result for us.

"We continued to have discussions and were challenging each other, not taking 'no' for an answer. The work overnight and between the sessions was amazing from the team and I'm really proud of everyone for keeping positive."

Red Bull's Max Verstappen leads Hamilton (101) by four points in the standings after winning in Monaco, and is on the second row of today's race with AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly for company.

Q3 was halted with a minute left when Gasly's teammate, Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda, who qualified eighth, crashed at Turn 3.

Carlos Sainz in the following Ferrari then took quick avoiding action but smashed into a safety barrier. The Spaniard starts fifth.

McLaren's Lando Norris finished sixth, although the Briton was summoned by stewards afterwards for failing to return to the pits immediately after red flags were waved, and was handed a three-place grid drop - less than the normal five - with three penalty points.

The first phase of qualifying was twice stopped by crashes, with Lance Stroll smashing his Aston Martin into the barriers at Turn 15 and Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi following minutes later.

McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo then crashed at Turn 3 in the second phase, bringing out the red flags for the third time and ending the session abruptly.

This meant that the session saw a total of four red flags, equalling the record set in qualifying in Hungary in 2016.

"It was just a stupid qualifying to be honest, but it is what it is," said Verstappen. "It's a street circuit so these things can happen."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX

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