Leclerc will start ahead of the Red Bulls of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.
Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying results: Leclerc on pole from Perez
What happened in Azerbaijan Grand Prix Q1?
Verstappen set the early pace at 1m42.938s, 0.26s ahead of teammate Perez, before lowering that to 1m42.722s, with Perez getting to within 0.011s of that.
The session was red flagged with 2m30s on the clock when Lance Stroll crashed his Aston Martin at Turn 2, having already locked up and nosed into the barrier at Turn 7 on the previous lap.
After a wild scramble to get the final laps in, falling at the first hurdle were Kevin Magnussen (Haas), the Williamses of Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi, Stroll and the second Haas of Mick Schumacher.
Azerbaijan Grand Prix Q1 results: Verstappen fastest from Perez
What happened in Azerbaijan Grand Prix Q2?
Verstappen set the bar at 1m42.227s, 0.031s ahead of Perez. Sainz beat them both with 1m42.088s, with Leclerc taking P2, 0.073s behind, after a big slide at Turn 16.
Perez improved on his second push lap to take the top spot with 1m41.955s, with Leclerc producing a wall-brushing 1m42.046s to go second. Vettel locked up and nosed into the wall at Turn 15 but escaped to set the seventh-fastest time.
Knocked out at this point were the McLarens of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and the Alfa Romeos of Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas.
Azerbaijan Grand Prix Q2 results: Perez fastest from Leclerc
What happened in Azerbaijan Grand Prix Q3?
On the first runs, Sainz set the P1 bar at 1m41.814s, ahead of Leclerc’s 1m41.861s, which was 0.047s slower – both Ferraris ahead of the Red Bulls, which were led by Perez.
On the final runs, Sainz was far too ragged in the opening sector and didn’t improve, so Leclerc grabbed pole with 1m41.359s. Verstappen produced 1m41.706s to grab second before Perez pipped him by a tenth for the front row spot.
Sainz dropped from first to fourth, and will start ahead of George Russell (Mercedes), Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) and Fernando Alonso (Alpine).
Azerbaijan Grand Prix Q3 results: Leclerc takes pole
Source: Boxing News 24