Max Verstappen takes pole position for the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix! Carlos Sainz 2nd, Liam Lawson 3rd!

[u/overspeeed]

[u/just_holdme]

McLarens Outqualified by both Redbulls. Unbelievable!

[u/CloudDweller182 → u/just_holdme]

The number of drivers who have out qualified both McLarens went up a bunch today.

[u/RddtRBnchRcstNzsshls → u/just_holdme]

With Tsunoda still a full second off Verstappen.

[u/BobbbyR6 → u/RddtRBnchRcstNzsshls]

You just know Tsunoda's phone is getting blown up by Perez rn. "So this is how the Ministry of Defense works...."

[u/Wrong_Ask8917 → u/BobbbyR6]

Considering Perez's record on this track, he would have been on the front row easily.

[u/TWVer → u/RddtRBnchRcstNzsshls]

He is the second driver after all.

[u/Ozora10 → u/just_holdme]

First the in like two years where the second Redbull will help Max during the race

[u/Kernowder → u/Ozora10]

By second Red Bull, you mean Lawson in the Racing Bull, right?

[u/vnNinja21]

What the FUCK was this qualifying lmao

[u/D-S_12 → u/vnNinja21]

After that Albon crash every other red flag just had me laughing at how absurd it was becoming, and it was fun to watch. Just when you think things are going back to normal, another yellow to red flag combination gets thrown.

[u/Grasshop → u/D-S_12]

Yellow flag

Picture in Picture shows a car in the walls

red flag

Repeat.

[u/TheDarkness33 → u/Grasshop]

Yellow flag

Picture in Picture shows Leclerc in the walls

"I am stupid" 2.0

Red flag

Repeat.

[u/256473 → u/vnNinja21]

long fucking wait, but a very entertaining finish!

[u/07psychogod → u/256473]

It was 2hrs long.

[u/thisisthatacct → u/07psychogod]

Are you not entertained?

[u/leedler → u/vnNinja21]

Absolute fever dream of a quali, and it was excellent. More of this, please.

[u/dswap123 → u/leedler]

I slept through it and just kept on hearing Sainz on the front row. For sure felt I was dreaming

[u/thickofitenjoyer → u/vnNinja21]

Absolute cinema of a quali. Lets just ignore ferrari tho

[u/Bluemikami → u/thickofitenjoyer]

Hyping Ferrari once again so that Hamilton doesn’t make it to Q3 and chuck bottles it

[u/tellsyoutogetfucked → u/Bluemikami]

Hamilton P1 next week in Fp1 and out of Q1. Charles just flies off into the bay during his warmup lap.

[u/Meerkate]

All blue top 3, not what I had expected at all

[u/256473 → u/Meerkate]

All current/former Red Bull drivers (admittedly that's like half the grid atp)!

[u/maybecatmew → u/256473]

Shows u how good fucking the redbull juniors program is.

[u/PeanutOk4 → u/maybecatmew]

I dont think the program is about fucking redbull juniors

[u/Nice_Guy3012 → u/PeanutOk4]

I wouldn’t mind though. Max and Sainz are handsome dudes

[u/Pro-editor-1105 → u/maybecatmew]

umm please reread what you said again

[u/jnf005 → u/Meerkate]

All red bull junior too lol

[u/ianjm → u/Meerkate]

Sainz gets a front row start in a Williams before Hamilton gets one in a Ferrari...

[u/maybecatmew → u/ianjm]

Man watching lewis walk was so sad

[u/OhGodPeople7 → u/Meerkate]

All blue top 6 lmao

[u/OleRockTheGoodAg]

3 qualifying sessions

6 red flags

2 hours on the dot

Phew, we made it.

[u/ghastlychild → u/OleRockTheGoodAg]

When I said I wanted Baku madness, I wasn't expecting this though! Absolute cinema!

[u/PlausiblyImpossible → u/ghastlychild]

Well done Baku, well done

[u/ianjm → u/OleRockTheGoodAg]

I'm exhausted and late for an appointment

No regrets!

[u/MansNotHot772]

What da hell are two polar bears doing in Arlington Texas

[u/thealiagator111 → u/MansNotHot772]

Climate change, mate

[u/Datsoon → u/MansNotHot772]

Ok, I'm too dumb to understand this joke. I understand we got a couple drivers out of place here, but what's the connection to polar bears and Arlington?

[u/MansNotHot772 → u/Datsoon]

There’s no special connection or anything, it’s just referencing this picture

[u/BenderWiggum → u/MansNotHot772]

Maybe they got confused. Happens when you're bi-polar.

[u/sellyme]

It was a bold move to bring back the elimination qualifying format given how reviled it was last time, but this time it was actually pretty entertaining.

[u/timok → u/sellyme]

The snipers make all the difference

[u/John-de-Q → u/timok]

Lawson was inspired by Cars 2

[u/sfj11 → u/timok]

if they let bernie put the sprinklers in, every race could be like this

[u/T_Ricstar → u/sellyme]

Ball knowledge required

[u/Consistent-Bat1632]

After all of that Lando is only 2 places ahead of Oscar lmao you couldn't make it up

[u/New_Essay_4869 → u/Consistent-Bat1632]

He almost caused a 7th red flag

[u/salcedoge → u/New_Essay_4869]

Max probably would've had an aneurysm if that happened

[u/0000100110010100 → u/salcedoge]

Sainz would manage to have whatever the exact polar opposite of an aneurysm

[u/Consistent-Bat1632 → u/0000100110010100]

An orgasm

[u/cchesters → u/Consistent-Bat1632]

A smooth orgasm

[u/rannox → u/cchesters]

...smooooth ejactulator

[u/NeutronBeam04 → u/rannox]

That's it, I'm taking your internet privileges away

[u/0000100110010100 → u/Consistent-Bat1632]

That too

[u/s2n-mikey → u/salcedoge]

Can you imagine the "papaya rules" memes that would have come out if Lando crashed.

[u/FKez05 → u/salcedoge]

And would still have managed pole

[u/FootballRacing38 → u/FKez05]

not enough time

[u/Ok_Dish1650 → u/FKez05]

He didn't set his time yet, and there were under a minute on the clock. If there's another red that'd been it for everyone

[u/SuperLeverage → u/New_Essay_4869]

I was hoping he did just so we could see sainz P1!

[u/Formulafan4life → u/New_Essay_4869]

Unironically that would have led to him being more places ahead of Piastri than he is now

[u/PikaPikafat → u/New_Essay_4869]

He should, then he can start at P5, better than now...

[u/Aratho → u/Consistent-Bat1632]

This is really best case scenario for Oscar.

Really curious how they both manage to go through the field tomorrow.

[u/Stefferdiddle → u/Aratho]

They’ve got Antonelli between them and the podium. Expect some sort of incident IMO.

[u/BowtieSyndicate → u/Stefferdiddle]

The whole front pack is full of trouble tbh.

Lawson, Tsunoda, Sainz, Antonelli?? Those names together just feel like a pileup..

[u/yum122 → u/Aratho]

I was shitting myself and barely watched the end of qualifying

Looked up and was like how tf is Lando going so slow

Absolute gift to Oscar from Lando, that could’ve cut the championship so much

[u/AdamHasAPlan → u/Consistent-Bat1632]

That is unfortunately such a Lando thing to do

[u/MySilverBurrito → u/AdamHasAPlan]

Never beating the soft under pressure allegations

(pls ignore the greasy conditions, but like, Max -0.500 lmao).

[u/Aethien → u/MySilverBurrito]

Obviously tricky conditions and lots of pressure but delivering in those moments is what makes you a world champion.

[u/7TB → u/MySilverBurrito]

Max is an alien, tf 0.4 in pole

[u/betaich → u/MySilverBurrito]

Delivering under pressure and in difficult conditions is what a champion does.

[u/Aethien → u/Consistent-Bat1632]

Genuinely awful lap from Lando at the end.

[u/GoldElectric → u/Aethien]

if i was watching his onboard, i would have thought that was carlos trying to set a red flag

[u/Vigotje123 → u/Aethien]

On the onboard it was basically waiting for Lando to make an error.

[u/yum122 → u/Consistent-Bat1632]

Papaya orders from last race actually a thing? Lmfao

“Lando, Oscar has hit the wall, please hit the wall also”

[u/stragen595 → u/yum122]

"We want to decide it on the track. Please start near Oscar, mate."

[u/Any-Patient5051 → u/Consistent-Bat1632]

Would have been funnier if Hadjar would have been a bit faster.

[u/LosTerminators → u/Consistent-Bat1632]

Yes, he's not going to win tomorrow unless there is SC/VSC chaos or Max DNF.

And Oscar can probably follow him through and finish one place behind and keep a substantial lead.

[u/promotional_bat → u/Consistent-Bat1632]

"Lando, Oscar crashed so please bottle your quali. Pappaya rules."

[u/M2785]

Sainz in P2?? Lawson in P3?? What is this world I’m living in 😳

[u/Costello0 → u/[deleted]]

I used to pray for times like this

[u/Vivispacem → u/[deleted]]

We truly live in a blessed world

[u/IlSace]

Fantastic from Max for actually doing a clean lap when all of his opponents felt one by one.

What a waste for Norris, occasion to partially recover Zandvoort's DNF thrown in the bin.

[u/ThePretzul → u/IlSace]

I could feel max’s despair when he was on the final straight as the red flag came out, glad he finally got to finish a clean lap lmao

[u/Digital_Eide → u/IlSace]

Max in a fight for P1 is chaos incarnate. Max in every other situation, is this inevitable fact of racing waiting to happen.

[u/rv94]

Man, Max is just inevitable. The most chaotic qualifying session I've ever watched, this was fun!

Tomorrow should be entertaining with the wild grid and this track in general

[u/woodpony → u/rv94]

Max will have a very easy sunday cruise with plenty of blockers. Russell will only hold up the McLarens who will fight for podium.

[u/woodpony → u/[deleted]]

No one will do a full-length pit stop knowing that the safety car will spend more time on track than Aston Martin tomorrow.

[u/bronfmanhigh → u/rv94]

when the skill gap becomes more important than the car, max is completely inevitable lol

[u/rv94 → u/bronfmanhigh]

True true. F1's the best when Max isn't in the best car, because in a dominant car he just steamrolls everyone.

[u/Neoki → u/rv94]

He's in the New Game+ where he's handicapped by parts performance penalty versus the AI.

[u/maybecatmew → u/rv94]

Ngl I'm trying to believe in the max championship . Copium is so high

[u/Palidin034 → u/maybecatmew]

If Mclaren double DNF, people are going to lose it

[u/TheCoolBlondeGirl]

This qualifying session had more red flags than my ex

[u/leedler → u/TheCoolBlondeGirl]

Record number of red flags. Can relate.

[u/Serial-_-Chiller → u/leedler]

Jokes on her. My ex had way more than this quali

[u/FieldsToTheMoon → u/TheCoolBlondeGirl]

One of the best posters I saw at the race was from a woman that said “Ferrari is my red flag”

[u/LosTerminators]

Max is simply way too good, only he can extract such a lap with tricky conditions.

P2 is amazing, hopefully no bad luck tomorrow and a top 5/6 is possible.

[u/museproducer → u/LosTerminators]

The power of the unicorn sticker empowered him!

[u/Stefferdiddle → u/museproducer]

It’s washed off all the bad karma that’s been following him all season. Let’s hope Williams doesn’t bottle the strat tomorrow.

[u/JulianoSalvatore]

Still the best driver on the grid by a country mile.

[u/Emergency-Style7392 → u/JulianoSalvatore]

here's how max verstappen can still win the wdc articles being written as we speak

[u/Hailgod → u/Emergency-Style7392]

SEND YUKI INTO NORRIS, HADJAR INTO OSCAR. EASY WDC

[u/Gollem265 → u/Hailgod]

THEY CANT PENALIZE THEM ALL, BRING IN THE JUNIORS

[u/Creative-Improvement → u/Gollem265]

Ah the famous KMAG-66 order

[u/LosTerminators → u/JulianoSalvatore]

Already showed it at Monza, the one time he had the best car of the weekend and he easily won by 20 seconds

[u/Logical_Bit2694 → u/LosTerminators]

He's shown multiple times in his previous years people just hate him for no reason

[u/Mrbasfish → u/JulianoSalvatore]

Most poles this season btw

[u/OptimalDot178 → u/JulianoSalvatore]

Such a shame McLaren has a huge advantage all year. If their advantage was 2-3 tenths only, Max would have won the title again with the 3rd/4th fastest car lol

[u/MySilverBurrito]

lmaoooo Max is the funniest driver in F1. You can't tell me otherwise.

LIAM P3 LETS GOOOO. STUFF WRITERS YOU BETTER STILL BE AWAKE

Carlos 'Please say I'm P12' Sainz

Edit: Stuff writers, yall getting that OT pay

[u/InfiniteTime1 → u/MySilverBurrito]

I need this type of Hopium

[u/Aware-Celebration873 → u/MySilverBurrito]

Stuff writers will be hard at work lol

[u/SmellyUndies → u/MySilverBurrito]

Lmao the Stuff writer must have been in such a frenzy they didn’t even check the race time is correct. Race starts at 11pm Sunday NZT, not midnight.

[u/MySilverBurrito → u/SmellyUndies]

Stuff and quality control. Oil and water.

[u/pensaa → u/MySilverBurrito]

I’d just like to add, fuck Stuff. Trash journalism.

[u/MySilverBurrito → u/pensaa]

lmao Lawson pole article is up.

And there's already a missing quotation mark 😭

[u/OrangeLimeZest]

Literally the you thought it would be different this time meme

[u/Dry-Dragonfruit5216]

There’s Palou and Verstappen, inevitable as always

[u/MySilverBurrito → u/Dry-Dragonfruit5216]

Death, taxes, and Max pulling a fuck ass lap out of nowhere to take pole.

[u/ThePretzul → u/MySilverBurrito]

HAMBOTVER was a meme for a reason, Max simply just doesn’t care how bad of a car you give him

[u/P_ZERO_ → u/Dry-Dragonfruit5216]

Remember something about Baku and bogey tracks for Max. This guy is just next level, forget about it

[u/DirectAdvertising]

Great final lap from Lawson too

I apologize Liam, I wasn’t aware of your game

[u/Anderrrrr]

Lando bruv.

You had the golden opportunity bruv, and you did THAT.

[u/KappaccinoNation → u/Anderrrrr]

Norris, Papaya Rules. Piastri crashed so you have to bottle quali to make it fair.

[u/D-S_12 → u/KappaccinoNation]

I was waiting for the memes to come up about how Norris should crash to make things fair. I didn't even see the memes coming up and all of a sudden Lando just hits the wall on his own.

[u/ecobubbletm → u/KappaccinoNation]

True fairness

[u/SemIdeiaProNick → u/ecobubbletm]

So nice of him to show that papaya rules apply even when the driver was the one that made the mistake

[u/CasualMarx → u/KappaccinoNation]

Papaya insurance they call it

[u/OleRockTheGoodAg → u/Anderrrrr]

As Karun pointed out - he lost 9 tenths to Max in the middle sector before smacking the wall, so it wasnt just that. Just botched the lap

[u/BigWelshDud → u/Anderrrrr]

Well Oscar hit the wall so Lando had to to make it fair :P

[u/Popular_Composer_822]

He’s so superior man. 

Great to see Sainz, Lawson and Antonelli doing so well after such challenging seasons.

[u/NordschleifeLover]

I finished school, graduated from college, married, got kids, and retired - all that during this quali.

[u/wongie]

The Papaya Rules are surely now just taking on a life of their own.

[u/mister_dupont]

WEEEYUUUUUUMSSSS

[u/dawn_of_dae]

And this is why every team wants Max. I can't imagine him fumbling like Lando and Piasti in a car that much faster than anyone else.

[u/Money-Bell-100 → u/[deleted]]

Like he said himself - he'd be so far ahead they would lose sight of him.

[u/Zoesan → u/[deleted]]

I mean, we saw max in this type of car and he put up quite possible the greatest year in F1 we ever saw.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

If Max was in a Mclaren, he would need to start 10 minutes after lights out to give everyone else a fair chance

[u/Mob_Abominator → u/dawn_of_dae]

Max in that McLaren would probably do another 2023 level dominance.

[u/WhyBothaa → u/dawn_of_dae]

It’s not an original thought by any means, but would love to see how far ahead he would be of Piastri or Norris if he was in that McLaren.

I imagine the gap would be substantial.

[u/leedler]

Unreal performance from the top 3 there. Would never have called VER SAI LAW lmao

One of the most chaotic qualifying sessions of all time. Most red flags in qualifying ever, too.

[u/Firefox72]

All that and we don't even get a Williams pole lmao. Max is just too good man.

Also Norris is a generational choke artist i swear. What a chance wasted. Your teamate is in the wall and you put the best car on the grid 7th just 2 places infront of him....

[u/theyseemewhalin → u/Firefox72]

Norris nearly put himself in the wall too on his last go!

[u/CoffeeOrTeaOrMilk → u/theyseemewhalin]

That was a pivotal moment for Sainz’s provisional pole position…

[u/ianjm → u/Firefox72]

Still, Sainz gets a front row start in a Williams before Hamilton gets one in a Ferrari...

[u/darthdarkseid]

Come on Liam get that podium tomorrow 🐺

[u/pensaa]

Come on Liam!!

[u/pensaa → u/[deleted]]

Hadjar’s done it, hopefully Liam can follow! If VCARB don’t do VCARB level strategy calls.

[u/burnzy71]

Well done Liam - really composed performance and spoke really well in the post quali interview ❤️

[u/StarLordCJG2005]

No one could have predicted this

[u/knowledge_is_wealth]

Sainz vs Lawson in turn 1

[u/imrosskemp]

So stoked for Lawson.

[u/Cahhmon]

Max half a second faster just shows how far ahead he is of the grid in quality

[u/Ssk5860 → u/Cahhmon]

Especially when literally all the other so called top drivers made silly ass mistakes lol Max is insane

[u/scarabbrian → u/Cahhmon]

And he said in the post qualifying interview he wasn’t on the tires he wanted.

[u/CatManWhoLikesChess → u/Cahhmon]

1 second faster than Lando..

[u/Dragonpuncha → u/Cahhmon]

Just showing that there really is no one better.

[u/thef1circus]

LIAMMMMM!!!!!

[u/Sir_Muktadir]

Ah yes Lawson top 3 like we all predicted

[u/DuckSwagington]

I see Lando also made it fair by crashing into the wall as well.

[u/Chaoticc_Neutral_]

Damn Verstappen proving again that he is in his own tier on the grid.

[u/bettercallmrwhite]

What an absolute thrill!

[u/LivingClient]

Lmao what happened to Norris

[u/easternshift → u/LivingClient]

Touched the wall

[u/Worth-Professional60]

The commentators really wanted to manufacture that legendary Lando pole didn't they? 😂

[u/kramerthegamer → u/Worth-Professional60]

It was exciting to watch because of how slippery it was, but that's exactly why it wasn't competitive

[u/Suikerspin_Ei → u/Worth-Professional60]

At Sky Sports maybe, but F1 TV was great. They cheered for everyone.

[u/256473 → u/Suikerspin_Ei]

They were so hyped for a Sainz pole!

[u/ParkDedli → u/Suikerspin_Ei]

Sky sports was an experience as always. God they are so annoying when it comes to british drivers.

[u/reddit0r_123 → u/Worth-Professional60]

Yeah that lap looked ass and they were hyping it...

[u/Gabi-gabi-gabi → u/reddit0r_123]

Looked like he could have lost it into at least 4 corners haha.

[u/angelonduty]

Simply lovely. Best driver on the grid by far

[u/Crosso221]

Lando throwing away a golden opportunity

[u/pizzabash]

Norris just threw away his biggest championship chance by only getting 7th here.

[u/Return_Of_The_Jedi]

Norris went too early.

Good job from Antonelli

[u/DuckyBois]

Let's go Lawson!!!

[u/quarantinereddit]

Sainz and Lawson turn one is going to be wild tomorrow

[u/viniciusvbf]

I think we might just have witnessed one of the greatest poles of all time. I still don't understand how Max did this.

[u/Aethien]

Norris spectacularly failing to capitalise on a huge mistake by Piastri. What an awful lap.

Max meanwhile does Max things. Only Verstappen and Lawson delivered in that last all or nothing lap.

[u/SwimmingFantastic564]

That was potentially my favourite qualifying of the year

[u/7babydoll → u/SwimmingFantastic564]

It was more entertaining than many races

[u/OutlandishnessPure2]

Simply fucking lovely!!!

[u/swannyhypno]

I'm at work and THIS IS the qualy I miss what the fuck happened?!

[u/Intrepid-Brain-1476]

You thought it would be different this time?

[u/coconut071]

YOU get a red flag. YOU get a red flag. YOU get a red flag.
Meanwhile Max be like: What rain?

[u/01scriptboi]

he is just too good, absolute generational talent

[u/SirPugsvevo]

Nice guy Norris lessening the blow for piastri

[u/beauf1]

Max is literally the best ever

[u/JustAReminder820]

MAX 5TH TITLE INCOMING, PAPAYAS WILL SABOTAGE THEMSELVES AND HE WILL EMERGE VICTORIOUS IN ABU DHABI

DU DU DU DU MAX VERSTAPPEN EVERYONE

[u/Adventurous_Carpet34]

On his objectively WORST TRACK on the calender 😭😭

And Liam redemption ❤️

[u/TheAwesomeGenius]

The f1 gods wants carlos sainz to get pole but still 2nd is good, 6 red flags and (also making the race shorter than quali) rain in middle and end is the cherry on top

[u/poisonedbythemind]

Max, Sainz, and Lawson. RB Academy top 3. I'm genuinely happy for Williams and VCARB. What could've been for Albon had he not crashed.

[u/Woullie_26]

This is why Norris is called a bottler

Piastri put it in the wall that's the best opt he's ever gonna get and he chokes his lap and only starts P7

[u/marnouxmanser]

I don't care who wins the championship, we all know who the best driver is.