Verstappen on pole in Baku after Piastri, Leclerc crash

Max Verstappen tiptoed through the hazards of a wild qualifying session featuring six red-flag stoppages on Saturday to claim pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

- 

As series leader Oscar Piastri crashed and his McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris struggled for outright speed on his final lap, Red Bull's four-time champion made the most of treacherous damp conditions to end a near-crazy two-hour session on top.

The Dutchman clocked a best lap in one minute and 41.117 seconds to finish 0.478 seconds ahead of Williams' Carlos Sainz and half a second clear of Racing Bulls' rookie Liam Lawson, who secured his best qualifying result.

Sainz had made the most of his opportunity in Q3 to go quickest before Ferrari's Charles Leclerc crashed to bring a sixth red-flag stoppage that wrecked his hopes of a fifth straight Baku pole and deliver a mixed up grid.

Mercedes' under-pressure rookie Kimi Antonelli and George Russell were fourth and fifth ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull and Norris, who qualified seventh.