Charles Leclerc takes pole for Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Sergio Perez sneaks second ahead of Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen - while seventh-placed Lewis Hamilton avoids punishment after being probed by stewards for 'driving unnecessarily slowly'

Join us tomorrow for the coverage of the race. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day!

Charles Leclerc took pole position for the fourth Formula One race in a row Saturday ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver set a time of 1 minute, 41.359 seconds with his last run of the session to beat Red Bull's Sergio Perez by .282 seconds. Championship leader Max Verstappen qualified third in the other Red Bull, .347 off Leclerc's pace.

Leclerc qualified on pole position for the last three races but couldn't convert them into any wins. He was also on pole in Azerbaijan last year, when he placed fourth.

His team-mate Carlos Sainz qualified fourth, with fifth for Mercedes' George Russell and seventh for seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.

1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

Currently we have a Ferrari front row lockout with Sainz leading Leclerc.

Perez is third and Verstappen is currently fourth.

Who will land pole?

11. Lando Norris (McLaren)

12. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)

13. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

14. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)

15. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)

Frustration for both Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo as they are out of qualifying.

Currently we're set to say goodbye to...

11th - Lewis Hamilton
12th - Esteban Ocon
13th - Daniel Ricciardo
14th - Guanyu Zhou
15th - Valtteri Bottas

First it was Stroll in Q1 and now it's Sebastian Vettel in Q2 who has crashed around this track. It looks like there is no front wing damage thankfully for the German.

Who will make the top 10 and Q3?

We say goodbye to...

16. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

17. Alex Albon (Williams)

18. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)

19. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

20. Mick Schumacher (Haas)

Currently in the Elimination Zone...

16th - Alexander Albon
17th - Valtteri Bottas
18th - Nicolas Latifi
19th - Lance Stroll
20th - Mick Schumacher

We'll resume qualifying very soon, thankfully.

Stroll's crash has caused for the session to be temporarily suspended.

At present he's going to qualify 19th but it could be worse as he's had to park his car - losing his front wing entirely and front right tyre. Having crashed the previous lap, Stroll veers into the wall of turn two.

We have less than eight minutes left but Ferrarj are leading the way.

Charles Leclerc is top with Max Verstappen second. Carlos Sainz is third and Sergio Perez fourth.

Who will not make the cut?

Daniel Ricciardo is in desperate need of a good result after a poor start to the season.

His tough 2021 season - barring his win at Monza - has continued into 2022.

He has scored just 11 points compared to Lando Norris' 48, and eyebrows were raised when McLaren bosses said Ricciardo had not met 'his or our expectations' after another disappointing result at Monaco where he finished 13th.

With talk surrounding his future in F1, a good result this weekend would be timely for the popular Australian.

Good omens for Sergio Perez who took victory at the Azerbaijan GP last year. He will be in with a good chance this weekend but last year it was perhaps more down to luck.

Max Verstappen crashed out with a comfortable lead with six laps to go after suffering a puncture on the main straight - not long after Lance Stroll also suffered the same fate.

At the standing restart, Lewis Hamilton looked like he was about to pass Sergio Perez for the lead... only to accidently press the 'magic button' which forced him to lock up and drop out of the points.

Perez took the win from the Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel and AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly.

There's good reason for that. Azerbaijan has proven to be a blessing and a curse for F1. A blessing for fans; a curse for drivers and team bosses.

Every year there is a squabble, a collision, a retirement or a malfunction that sets the F1 agenda for the days that follow.

Whether it was Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel's safety car squabble, Red Bull's colliding in 2018 or last year's race which saw title rivals Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton both lose out on possible victories, it rarely fails on the entertainment front.

Sportsmail takes a look at the most dramatic moments from past Azerbaijan GP.

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There was a lot of hope for Mercedes after an improved showing in Barcelona.

However, they were off the pace in Monaco and have struggled so far this weekend.

Lewis Hamilton is 75 points off the championship lead and can't afford to drop many more points to those out front.

Mercedes are still looking like the third best team but will be hoping to show much better pace in qualifying than they have done so far this weekend.

One man who will be hoping for better fortune this weekend is Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari.

The Monegasque so easily could have taken maximum points from the last two races.

But for a engine failure in Spain and a strategic error from his team in Monaco, he has only taken 13 points.

Leclerc has taken five pole positions this year and if he sticks it at the front again today he will be in with a very strong chance of his third victory of the season.

He will take confidence from clinching pole here last year when Ferrari were nowhere near title contention.

Max Verstappen might be leading the championship but it is Sergio Perez who seems to be getting the best out of the Red Bull at this moment in time.

He has topped two of the three practice sessions this weekend, including the one this morning where he was 0.070 seconds quicker than Charles Leclerc who was quickest in the afternoon yesterday.

Verstappen was nearly three tenths down on his team-mate though his final lap was compromised by traffic in the form of Fernando Alonso.

It was the McLarens who were best of the rest in fifth and sixth with George Russell in eighth and Lewis Hamilton all the way down in 12th - 1.6 seconds off the pace.

And welcome all to Sportsmail's live coverage of qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The streets of Baku always springs up a touch of chaos and a surprise result but today it's all about staying out of the walls and seeing who will line up on pole position for tomorrow's race.

There's 15 points separating Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez going into this weekend. Hopefully we should be in for some cracking action.

We will be bringing you all the build-up and live updates from qualifying which gets underway at 3.15 following a delayed start to this morning's practice.