Max Verstappen kept his calm amid the chaos during a qualifying session in Azerbaijan

Max Verstappen kept his calm amid the chaos during a qualifying session in Azerbaijan that was stopped on six separate occasions due to a litany of accidents.

Verstappen scored pole position, his sixth of the campaign, but behind the reigning world champion, the order was upended by a spate of shunts in windy conditions at the wall-lined Baku circuit, including a rare mistake from title leader Oscar Piastri.

Piastri locked up into Turn 3 in Q3 and clattered into the wall, with his mistake coming shortly after Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc crashed out of the session at Turn 15.

Piastri’s mistake condemned him to a 2025 low of ninth on the grid, in turn opening the door for McLaren teammate Lando Norris to take advantage.

But the Briton had a scrappy final Q3 push lap, which included brushing the wall at Turn 15, which left him only seventh on the grid.

Piastri leads Norris in the championship by 31 points.

The accidents for Piastri and Leclerc came after there were three red flags in Q1, due to separate accidents for Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, and Franco Colapinto, and another stoppage in Q2 when Oliver Bearman hit the wall.

The six red flags were the most in any qualifying session in Formula 1 history.

Verstappen nonetheless avoided the drama and scored pole position by almost half a second – the first time he has ever topped qualifying around the Baku City Circuit.

“It was a long qualifying, so many red flags, it was difficult to get the lap together,” Verstappen said. “You basically run out of tires, but I’m very happy with how the weekend has gone so far, we were there, and that’s where it matters.”