Overview

• Max Verstappen secured pole position, with Carlos Sainz lining up second for Williams and Liam Lawson third for Racing Bulls, as Mercedes pair Kimi Antonelli and George Russell took fourth and fifth.
• Qualifying was halted six times by red flags as strong, shifting winds caused multiple incidents and off-track excursions across all three segments.
• McLaren’s practice pace did not translate, with Lando Norris seventh and Oscar Piastri ninth, complicating a scenario in which the team can clinch the constructors’ title by outscoring Ferrari by at least nine points without ceding ground to Mercedes and Red Bull.
• Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crashed in Q3 and starts tenth, Lewis Hamilton qualified twelfth, and Nico Hülkenberg exited in Q1 in 17th for Sauber.
• Off track, Formula 1 extended Baku’s race contract through 2030, Alpine chief Flavio Briatore ruled out Mick Schumacher for the team’s 2026 seat in favor of Franco Colapinto or Paul Aron, and Verstappen reiterated his intent to remain at Red Bull while calling next year’s in-house engine a new risk.