
Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position for the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, qualifying 0.5s ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas to claim his first pole in this circuit, and his 66th overall, just 2 behind Michael Schumacher's record (68), and now surpassed the great Ayrton Senna (65). The Ferrari drivers locked out the second row of the grid, with Kimi Raikkonen qualifying ahead of Sebastian Vettel.
Daniel Ricciardo crashed out for Red Bull during the final part of Q3, which prompted a red flag 3 and a half minutes from the end, at which point Bottas was faster than Hamilton, but Hamilton managed to improve to set a lap record for this circuit, a 1:40.593, over 2 seconds faster than Nico Rosberg's pole position lap of last year.
Starting grid:
Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
Valtteri Bottas - Mercedes
Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel - Ferari
Max Verstappen - Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer
Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes
Esteban Ocon - Force India-Mercedes
Lance Stroll - Williams-Mercedes
Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes
Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer
Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso
Kevin Magnussen - Haas-Ferrari
Nico Hulkenberg - Renault
Pascal Wehrlein - Sauber-Ferrari
Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso
Romain Grosjean - Haas-Ferrari
Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari
Stoffel Vandoorne - McLaren-Honda
Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda
Jolyon Palmer - Renault
Notes: Carlos Sainz is serving a 3-place grid penalty handed out to him for causing a collision, Stoffel Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso are serving penalties for power unit changes - whilst Jolyon Palmer did not participate in qualifying due to an engine fire and as a result the team were unable to repair the car in time.