Max Verstappen will start the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on pole for the first time as McLaren imploded in Q3 in a record-breaking session.
After four red flags through Q1 and Q2, both Charles Leclerc and championship leader Oscar Piastri crashed in Q3, leaving Carlos Sainz of Williams on provisional pole with just 3:41 left on the clock.
However, Verstappen, using a set of new soft tyres, roared to a 1:41.117 time to snatch pole position from Sainz, securing Williams' best qualifying result since George Russell in 2021.
Liam Lawson secured a career-best third for Racing Bulls, with Lando Norris languishing seventh in a major break for Piastri after his Q3 crash.
Norris himself suffered a wall-strike on his final lap to leave him seventh, only two places ahead of the crashed Piastri on a weekend McLaren can win the constructors' championship.
Lewis Hamilton was 12th for Ferrari.
Result Qualification - Azerbaijan
Q3
In Q3, Sainz initially set a 1:41.595 on mediums to go fastest as one of the first laps, but Leclerc crashed at Turn 15 moments later, bringing out the red flags with 7:07 remaining.
However, during this delay, rain began to fall, with the session resuming before Piastri crashed at Turn 3.
Getting too deep on the brakes, he slammed into the wall, leaving a door open for Norris once the session resumed with 3:41 on the clock.
However, Norris could only go third at the time, dropping to seventh, only two places ahead as Verstappen roared to a fifth pole of the season.
His time was 1:41.117, with Sainz settling in for Williams as Lawson claimed the best qualifying result for a New Zealander since Chris Amon's third at the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix.
It is Verstappen's first pole in Baku, the 26th different circuit he has set a pole position at.
Kimi Antonelli was fourth for Mercedes, ahead of George Russell and Yuki Tsunoda, with Isack Hadjar the lowest-placed Red Bull-backed driver in eighth.
Hamilton falls in Q2 again
The big shock of Q2 was the elimination of Lewis Hamilton in 12th place after a disastrous Q2 for Ferrari.
Firstly, Leclerc went out on the mediums, but a mistake at Turn 1 on his first lap brought out yellow flags, also disrupting Hamilton behind.
He was forced to abort the effort, and as the clock ticked down to zero, found himself P10 in the times, although Leclerc was yet to set a time.
Eventually, Hamilton found some time, but stayed 10th in the standings until knocked out by Alonso and then Leclerc.
It is the fifth time in 17 races this season that Hamilton has fallen in Q2.
He was joined in falling by Alonso in 11th, Gabriel Bortoleto in 13th and the second Aston Martin of Lance Stroll in 14th.
The other eliminee was Oliver Bearman of Haas, who triggered the fourth red flag of the qualifying session early on after tapping the wall exiting Turn 2 on his first lap.
Up front, the segment was topped by Verstappen from Norris and Piastri.
Alpine misery compounded in Q1
In a Q1 session, 35 minutes with three red flags, it was Alpine duo Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto who brought the session to an early end.
With both in the drop-zone, Gasly initially ran wide at Turn 4, but moments later, Colapinto came through Turn 4 and got a tank-slapper into the concrete wall, destroying his car.
The duo were eliminated in 16th for Colapinto and 19th for Gasly on a weekend the team expected to struggle.
They were joined in Q1 elimination by Nico Hulkenberg, who brought out the second red flag with 6:36 remaining for another Turn 4 incident, and Esteban Ocon in 18th.
Alex Albon triggered the first red flag with 11:33 left on the clock, after clipping the inside wall at Turn 1, leaving him 20th once everyone completed fast laps.
Up front, Norris topped the segment from Verstappen and Leclerc, with the top teams following a mixture of soft and medium tyre strategies.
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