Lewis Hamilton has claimed pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with a lap time of 1:40.593. The Brit was able to beat his teammate after a red flag was brought out near the end of the Q3 session, due to a crash from Daniel Ricciardo.

The session re-started, and a number of drivers improved, as the tyres were able to recover the temperature lost through the red flag period. Bottas will line-up alongside his teammate, setting a time of 1:41.027.

Kimi Raikkonen escaped a scare from the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, and the Finn set the third fastest time. Verstappen's time was two-tenths of a second faster than Kimi Raikkonen and will line up fifth on the grid, as Sebastian Vettel set the fourth fastest time. 

The Force India's were closely matched throughout the whole session, and in the end, Sergio Perez managed to get the jump on his teammate Esteban Ocon. With less than a tenth of a second between them, they will start sixth and seventh respectively.

Daniel Ricciardo's day ended in disaster as the Australian crashed in the final qualifying session. At turn 6, he lost the rear of the car and tapped his left rear on the barriers, forcing him to stop the car and make the long walk back to his garage.

There will be joy on Lance Stroll's side of the garage as the Canadian managed to out-qualify teammate Felipe Massa for the first time this season. Both men will start the race tomorrow from eighth and ninth. 

Q1

Jolyon Palmer’s miserable season continued as he failed to make the start of qualifying. His car had suffered too much damage in the earlier practice session when a fuel leak caused the rear of the car to go up in flames.

As the lights at the end of the pit-lane went green, there was a hectic rush to the bottom of the lane. Drivers wanted to get out and get an early lap in and also set a number of laps to get the tyres up to the optimum temperature.

Approximately two-thirds of the field rushed out within the first minute. Kevin Magnussen in the Haas was the first driver to set a time, a 1:47.1. He was followed across the line by Lance Stroll, who put in a time of 1:44.9.

The first of the front runners to set a time was Dutchman Max Verstappen. The 19-year-old jumped to the top of the timesheets before he was quickly displaced by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. Teammates were seen offering each other slipstream in a bid to get the maximum possible straight line speed.

There was a number of off-track excursions, as Felipe Massa and Romain Grosjean both were forced to recover by either engaging reverse or doing a 180-degree spin. Valtteri Bottas hadn’t set a quick time and was looking in danger in the drop zone. However, after several preparation laps, the Finn launched up into P4.

Kevin Magnussen was the only driver to exit the drop zone in the final moments. Fernando Alonso didn’t complete his fast lap as he made a mistake at the start of the final sector and peeled off into the pits.

Drivers out in Q1: Alonso, Grosjean, Ericsson, Vandoorne & Palmer

BREAKING: ELIMINATED, Q1

16 ALO
17 GRO ?
18 ERI
19 VAN
20 PAL (DNS)___Escaped_link_66238bcfcb576___ ___Escaped_link_66238bcfcb578___ ?? ___Escaped_link_66238bcfcb579___ pic.twitter.com/k8x8c3bVQP

— Formula 1 (@F1) ___Escaped_link_66238bcfcb57b___

Q2

Both Mercedes emerged from their garage, and they would be swiftly joined by most of the field within three minutes. Felipe Massa was first to set a competitive lap time, but this was almost immediately usurped by Kimi Raikkonen, who went 1.5 seconds quicker in his Ferrari.

Lance Stroll also snuck in ahead of his team-mate, but he, in turn, was beaten by two more of the big boys - Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo - as they slotted into second and third respectively.

The table would inevitably be reshuffled yet again once the Silver Arrows had completed their laps, and Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas duly shot to the top two spots, although the gaps were beginning to get smaller beneath them, as the rest of the top five were all under 0.6s behind. Esteban Ocon, in seventh, was the first driver to be a full second behind.

The Force Indias had initially gotten the better of rivals Williams - Sergio Perez was running fourth, with Massa and Stroll at the edge of the drop zone - but the two white cars soon bounced back to be safe for Q3. At the top, Hamilton improved his time to be seven-tenths faster with five minutes to go, as his rival Sebastian Vettel ducked into the pits to prepare for his final run.

Vettel and Ricciardo were both seemingly in danger by this stage, and the latter was also advised to run again - he did so and placed himself fifth as Verstappen reclaimed second, only to have it snatched from his grasp by Vettel, and then Bottas, at the flag. Hamilton, Bottas and Vettel would, therefore, lead Verstappen, Ricciardo, Massa, Stroll, Perez, Ocon and Raikkonen into the top ten shootout.

Drivers out in Q2: Kvyat, Sainz, Magnussen, Hulkenberg & Wehrlein

BREAKING: ELIMINATED, Q2

11 KVY
12 SAI ?
13 MAG
14 HUL
15 WEH#Quali ___Escaped_link_66238bcfcb57d___ ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/1E9mYNTqBy

— Formula 1 (@F1) ___Escaped_link_66238bcfcb580___

Q3

The Red Bull of Ricciardo was first out on track, followed by the two Mercedes' of Bottas and Hamilton. The two Ferrari's soon followed as the tension started to build on the front runners to produce the best lap.

Bottas came across the line to put in a 1:47.2, very much on a build up lap like many of the drivers behind him. On his first fast lap, the Finn tapped the wall at turn 8, getting away without any damage. He popped in a lap time of 1:41.2 that proved to be faster than his teammate

Hamilton, on his fast lap, locked up on the entrance to the final sector and slotted into second behind Bottas. Ricciardo then made a mistake at turn 6, losing the rear and smacked the wall. The incident brought out the red flag, with only three and a half minutes to go.

The cars went back out in an attempt to improve their lap times, with many doing so. Valtteri Bottas crossed the line and went purple and looked set for pole, before being displaced by Lewis Hamilton who takes his 66th career pole position. 

Sebastian Vettel also improved his time as he was looking to be suffering from problems on his first run, however, he couldn't get ahead of his teammate who also improved to go third fastest.

Pole position number 66 for @LewisHamilton

He's now on his own in second place on the all-time list#AzerbaijanGP #F1Baku ?? #F1FastFact pic.twitter.com/EPYUjzNyuo

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 24, 2017

Fergal Walsh & Mason Hawker

Photos Azerbaijan 2017

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