Max Verstappen Takes Pole Amid Ferrari Failure and McLaren Misstep in Baku F1 Qualifying

I've been saying it all week to anyone who would listen and many more who didn't want to listen that Formula 1's visit to the Baku Street Circuit always delivers.

And, boy, did qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix make me look like a genius because it was wild.

The notoriously tricky circuit that features both the narrowest section of track and the long straight on the calendar is always tough, but it looked like Ferrari had a pretty good grasp on their setup going into qualifying on Saturday.

However, it all fell apart, starting with Lewis Hamilton making a shocking early exit after getting knocked out in Q2.

Ouch. But at least they still had hope in Charles Leclerc, who has been a monster in Baku, taking pole the last four seasons.

Surely, he'll put the Scuderia on top once again on a weekend where they were looking strong.

Nope.

Tricky Turn 15 claimed Leclerc as a victim, and that's a tough pill to swallow on a weekend where Ferrari is trying to keep McLaren from locking up the Constructors' Championship.

Speaking of which, these Ferrari troubles presented a big opportunity for McLaren, but they had been looking a little iffy since Free Practice 3, in which both drivers found walls.

Well, Turn 15 claimed another victim when Oscar Piastri — the championship leader — found the wall for what is really only like his third mistake of the season after a spin in the season opener in Australia and a penalty (a very debatable one, but still) at Silverstone.

Both Leclerc's and Piastri's incidents brought out red flags (there were six red flags in the session, which lasted two hours) and paused qualifying. This prevented most of the 10 drivers left in qualifying from setting a time.

One of the only ones able to set one was Williams Carlos Sainz, who set his time on medium tires, and he was sitting pretty as some rain clouds started to roll in and sprinkled some water around the track.

Once Piastri's wreck was cleaned up, drivers really only got one stab at a clean lap. It was up to Lando Norris to put his McLaren toward the sharp end of the field and help the team clinch a title.

Well, that should be easy for the all-conquering McLaren on soft tires to out-qualify a Williams on mediums, right?

Right?!

Wrong.

Norris looked to be a bit down on pace before he clipped the wall at — you won't believe this — Turn 15, which meant he couldn't jump Sainz.

In the end, the only one who could was Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who earned his first career pole in Azerbaijan, and he will lead an unexpected grid for Sunday's race.

That's quite the mixed-up grid, and I think we should continue to see Baku throw some curveballs at us during Sunday's Grand Prix.