F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix LIVE: Lando Norris faces an impossible task in 17th place, Charles Leclerc starts from pole, Max Verstappen is sixth on the grid

Red Bull’s turnaround has been remarkable, but despite the drop in performance they remain top of both championships with only eight races remaining.

But Verstappen knows only too well how this will all end, with McLaren breathing down his neck in the Constructors’ Championship while Norris is plotting an unlikely attempt to take the title.

The Dutchman complained about the team’s poor setup in qualifying, which contributed to him only finishing sixth – behind Perez!

From the first lap of qualifying I wasn’t happy with the car and I just tried to overtake it. If you don’t feel safe and comfortable with the car on a street circuit you can’t push to the limit and I think that’s basically what happened.

As soon as it matters, people take more risks. I just didn’t feel comfortable attacking because the car was just very difficult, jumping a lot and losing contact with the asphalt, so not very nice. Of course I went off the track in the last corner, which didn’t help either, so all in all pretty disappointing

The drivers will complete a few laps of the Baku City Circuit before the lights go out in just over 30 minutes. Most of the frontrunners will look to start on a medium-stroke and then switch to a long-stroke for the final stint.

Two of the three strategies published by tire manufacturer Pirelli are based on one-stops, so most teams are likely to adopt this plan – unless, of course, they want to cause trouble like Norris.

The seven-time world champion qualified for the race in seventh place, but having already used up his fifth engine of the season, more than he was allowed, he will start from the pit lane.

The same goes for Alpine’s Esteban Ocon after the team made changes to his car during the Parc Fermé.

Sunglasses are out this morning in warm and sunny Baku. Weather conditions for the race are dry and warm with a low chance of rain and moderate winds, suggesting a rather boring race considering the nature of a narrow road course.

But as I said, this track often upsets pole sitters, so anything can happen here.

Leclerc fans are all too aware of his inability to convert pole positions into wins, even when he fails to do so, at a track that has seen disappointments among the leading group. Only two drivers have managed to convert a pole position into a win in Baku: Nico Rosberg and Valterri Bottas.

Norris is 69 points behind Verstappen in the drivers’ championship and this week we should have seen McLaren’s new team order system in full swing.

As it turned out, the Briton ended up far behind due to a poor performance in qualifying. However, despite the tight track in Baku, he remains hopeful.

Everything has to be done strategically because you can’t overtake. There are a lot of cars further back that have removed the wing and are hoping for the best.

That makes it impossible for a lot of cars to overtake. The car is fast and we hope we can get it under control and I’ll get some free time at some point. But on a street circuit everything gets jammed up and you get forced into a position and sometimes there’s not much you can do.

Charles Leclerc continued his impressive qualifying form in Baku, securing his fourth consecutive pole position at the track. Meanwhile, Red Bull’s problems, particularly from Verstappen, continued. And perhaps “problems” is too strong a word given their position.

Nevertheless, Max qualified sixth, behind teammate Sergio Perez, who is known to love this track. Oscar Piastri will be alongside Leclerc at the front, while Sainz qualified third.

I hear you asking, “Where is Lando?” The answer is, way back at number 17. We’ll find out more about that in a moment.

Hello and welcome to Mail Sport’s coverage of this afternoon’s Azerbaijan GP from the Baku City Circuit. Yesterday’s qualifying brought a few surprises, most notably the performance of Lando Norris, who really needs to catch up with Max Verstappen if he wants to win the drivers’ title.

The race starts at 12pm, but before then we’ll bring you all the news and updates.