Lando Norris to start Azerbaijan Grand Prix 16th after flag fiasco spoils flying lap

Title challenger Lando Norris' hopes of a third race victory this season has taken a hit after he was knocked out of qualifying in Q1 for Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Norris was initially 17th in qualifying at the Baku City Circuit but was later moved up a place on the grid after Pierre Gasly, who had finished 13th, was disqualified for breaking rules on fuel flow rates.

Earlier, Norris seemed to be on a lap fast enough to progress out of the first part of qualifying as one of the 15-fastest drivers.

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However, as he made his way around on his flying lap, he had to slow for a yellow flag for Esteban Ocon's slow-moving Alpine — the result of a puncture earlier in the lap.

Norris' time from his first lap missed the 15th-place cutoff by 0.137 of a second.

It was the first race that Norris had been out in Q1 since last season's Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Speaking afterwards, Norris believed the lap he was on was good enough for second fastest.

He's also not confident of moving too far forward in the race.

"It was unlucky, that's all," he told Sky Sports F1's coverage.

"It is what it is. There's a long race ahead, we have some good tyres in the bank, [and] I'm still hopeful we can get a good result. I think the car is quick.

"Bit frustrating, but nothing I can do.

"Following is pretty much impossible around here and overtaking is a lot worse than everyone thinks.

"I am not expecting much from 17th [place], but we will put in a good plan tonight and do our best of course. I have been wrong, and I hope there are plenty of chances, but I'm not expecting so."

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella questioned the FIA as to why the yellow flag was displayed when a white flag would have been sufficient.

The white flag tells a driver that there's a much slower driver ahead of them. A yellow flag is similar, but drivers have to slow and avoid overtaking.

Norris is second in the driver standings, 62 points behind Max Verstappen with eight races remaining.

He has been steadily cutting into Verstappen's lead, finishing ahead of the champion at three of the last four races, including a win at Verstappen's home Dutch Grand Prix.

Last week, McLaren confirmed that it would favour Norris over fellow driver Oscar Piastri to help the team's title challenge, with Norris suggesting the Australian would be asked to make way for him on track in some situations.

However, it seems no team orders will be handed out on Sunday with Piastri to start on the second row after qualifying second fastest.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc qualified on pole position while championship leader Verstappen was sixth.

Leclerc, who won the last race in Monza, was fastest by 0.321 seconds from Piastri. His teammate Carlos Sainz was third.

Pole marked a dramatic turnaround for Leclerc, who crashed in the first practice session.

“It hasn’t been an easy weekend because [of] the crash in FP1, which didn’t make me lose confidence. I knew that the pace was there," Leclerc said.

"But you’ve got to build back up to speed.”

Leclerc is on pole in Baku for the fourth year running, though he is yet to win the race.

Three-time defending champion Verstappen, who has not won any of the last six races, seemed better in Baku but was sixth after he clipped a curb at “the worst time it could have happened.”

Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was fourth, beating Verstappen in qualifying for the first time all year.

George Russell was fifth for Mercedes, ahead of Verstappen, with Lewis Hamilton seventh and Fernando Alonso eighth for Aston Martin.

There was a bizarre incident in the final part of qualifying when Williams' Alex Albon stopped on his way out of the pits to remove a large cooling fan that the team left in his air intake.

Albon qualified 10th and the team was fined $5,500.

Throwing the cooling fan out of the car as Albon did was the “least worst option” because it avoided further disrupting the session, the stewards' ruling said.

Albon's teammate Franco Colapinto, in only his second F1 race weekend, was ninth in the best qualifying result for an Argentine driver in 42 years.

British teen Oliver Bearman, standing in at Haas for the suspended Kevin Magnussen, was 11th after recovering from a crash in FP1.