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September 20, 2025
Azerbaijan GP Qualifying: Lewis Hamilton’s run ended early with an unexpected Q2 exit. Moments later, Charles Leclerc was caught up in a crash of his own.
The Saturday qualifying stretched on as red flags flew six times. Among those to hit the barriers were Leclerc, Pierre Gasly, Franco Colapinto, and championship leader Oscar Piastri.
![Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in dramatic [azerbaijan gp qualifying] with crashes, red flags, and a shock Q2 exit.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB8WCa_jCsehmb5yQD14ng6SiKWLo4ukh0CcDFCe3tkGl1Z_Zc0m5Z5l-vISOBVIDjQfogfgfIq5cb5wcUGZBl6xBYA15B6M61eHsChqWYlPMeclNFY3eGVAggMXI3oOTvQFXEUyAZG6vO8mxowujKjkUgwacyRxucFGVxmydML3_wq60y6HyrogTMLLed/s840/Untitled%20design_20250920_212603_0000.jpg "Hamilton, Leclerc Drama in Azerbaijan GP Qualifying")
Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, will start from 12th on the grid. His fastest Q2 lap was good enough for 10th, but Leclerc’s quicker run pushed him out.
Leclerc reached the final stage of qualifying but didn’t last long. On his first attempt at pole, he slid into the barriers at Turn 15 with seven minutes still to go.
“I’m really disappointed,” Hamilton told Sky Sports. He said the car felt strong on Friday, but the team chose a setup direction that looked good on paper and didn’t work out in practice.
Hamilton felt their pace had been solid and that progress was coming. He was confident, drove cleanly, and avoided mistakes. In the end, he admitted the wrong tire choice cost him.
“It’s frustrating,” Hamilton said. Most of the drivers ahead had medium tires, but he lost one during P2 because of the run plan, leaving him on the back foot.
He will line up just behind Fernando Alonso. Still, Hamilton highlighted plenty of positives from the weekend. He felt confident, sharp, and genuinely thought a pole fight was possible.
The outcome caught him off guard, but he said he’ll accept it and keep pushing forward. Leclerc confessed he never found a rhythm with the car on a circuit where he normally performs well.
“I’ve been having a really hard time,” he said. “In Baku, things usually come together naturally, but this year it didn’t happen. I can’t explain why.”
“In qualifying, I adjusted a lot on the car to try and improve how it felt,” he explained. “It started to feel better, but once we put on the medium tires, things went off.
From that point, it was really tough. Yesterday, the mediums seemed to suit the car perfectly. Today, we just couldn’t get them into the right window, which made everything extremely challenging.”
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