The past fortnight had brought some big news to the paddock. Firstly, that Adrian Newey has chosen Aston Martin and the Stroll dollars for his new home. There were lots of reasons for this choice: the money, the location, the new factory, the two-time world champion...no mention of Lance Stroll though. Secondly, McLaren decided to get some headlines for themselves as they finally made the choice to give Norris any and all the help they can to get Norris the drivers' championship ahead of Piastri.
Into Qualifying, LeClerc was the favourite to take pole He had to have three shots at getting through in the first session with various problems. Sainz was struggling and took the car off the track; not his favourite track. Colapinto was flying in his Williams, having crashed in Free Practice. Bearman, subbing for Magnussen in the Haas, also crashed in Free Practice. Lots of drivers were pushing. LeClerc was first at the end of the session, with the Williams in second and eighth. There were lots of brief yellow flags as mistakes were made. This caught Norris out. Ocon was last, then both Saubers, Norris and Ricciardo (back to putting in a poor show again). This was good news for Piastri and Stella as no difficult team orders decisions will need to be made during the race.
The second session was quieter. Verstappen took the lead, which was needed, with LeClerc in second. Bearman finished in 11th, 3 places ahead of his team mate Hulkenberg in 14th. Also out were Tsunoda, Gasly and Stroll in 15th ( a mere 10 places behind his team mate).
In the final session, Verstappen slid the rear end of his car off the track on his first run, piling the pressure on himself for the end. Williams left the airbox on the car as it went out; his crew pointed this out on the television monitors. Albon managed to get it out himself and threw it away. It was an unsafe release of the car and his tyres and time to the line was compromised. He didn't make it in time and lost his last chance to set a time. LeClerc predictably took pole, followed by Piastri and Sainz, Perez, Russell, Verstappen, Hamilton, Alonso, Colapinto and Albon. It was still a worthy out-qualifying by the rookie at Williams.
What Norris needs during the race is for as many drivers as possible to finish ahead and take points from Verstappen. I think there are several contenders who not only want to do that but are in the position to do it. It lines up to be a great race. There has been a dearth of safety cars and red flags this season...will the Baku GP bring them?
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