Verstappen’s time of 1m41.117s was nearly half a second clear of the impressive Carlos Sainz, who looked on course for a surprise pole until the Red Bull driver eclipsed him in the closing moments.

Lawson, too, was briefly on for a front-row start before Verstappen’s lap pushed him back to third, still enough to secure the Kiwi his best-ever grand prix start at 0.590s adrift of his former Red Bull teammate.

High winds and intermittent light rain made conditions treacherous, stretching the session to two hours — double its scheduled length.

The six red flags marked a new Formula 1 record for qualifying stoppages, surpassing the five seen at the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Through the chaos, Verstappen prevailed to claim his 46th career pole and move clear at the top of the 2025 pole position leaderboard.

“It was very difficult to get your lap together… it was a very difficult session,” he said.

“On the final lap you just had to send it. I’m very happy so far with how the weekend went… we were there in qualifying and that is of course where it mattered.”

Verstappen added he felt the pace was there regardless of the interruptions.

“I think we were definitely in there for pole,” he said.

“Since Monza we’re doing a better job and I hope we can continue that way.”

While Verstappen took top honours, the bigger stories were who lined up behind him.

Sainz had banked the first lap in Q3 before Charles Leclerc triggered the session’s first red flag with a crash at Turn 5, just as rain began to fall.

When running resumed, no one improved before Piastri’s heavy crash at Turn 3 caused another stoppage.

That left Verstappen as the only driver able to better Sainz’s time once the track reopened, handing Williams its first front-row start since George Russell at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix.

“[I’m] very happy honestly. We nailed the qualifying today,” Sainz said.

“Today we proved the speed on this car is there.”

He added: “[The] plan for tomorrow is to try and stick it on the podium. I’ll do my best to give Williams their first podium.”

Lawson, meanwhile, backed up his early pace with a late effort to secure third on the grid.

“Honestly I can’t even remember what happened, it was so busy,” he admitted.

“I didn’t expect it to be like that. The car has been good all weekend.”

Piastri’s crash halfway through Q3 brought out the record sixth red flag.

The Australian, who had been at the back of the pit queue after the previous stoppage, carried too much speed into Turn 3 and slammed into the wall.

He emerged unscathed but will start ninth — his lowest grid position this season and the first time he has failed to qualify in the top four.

Leclerc, who failed to set a time before his crash, will start behind him.

Lando Norris narrowly avoided joining his teammate in the wall, brushing the barrier on his final run and settling for seventh. He starts two places ahead of Piastri, split by Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar.

Ahead of them, Mercedes teammates Kimi Antonelli and George Russell will start fourth and fifth, with Antonelli outqualifying Russell for only the second time this year. Yuki Tsunoda delivered his best performance since joining Red Bull and will line up sixth.

The drama wasn’t limited to Q3. Q2 featured one red flag, while Q1 saw three.

Lewis Hamilton was the biggest casualty of Q2, missing Q3 by just three-tenths of a second. Despite strong practice pace, the seven-time world champion could not match his teammate and will start 12th — the fifth time this season he has failed to reach Q3.

Q2’s red flag came when Ollie Bearman clipped the wall at Turn 2 on his first run, ending his session. The Haas rookie joined Hamilton among those eliminated, along with Aston Martin pair Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto.

Q1’s three stoppages came from separate incidents — two of which brought both frustration and fortune for Piastri.

Alex Albon triggered the first by hitting the wall at Turn 1, his banker lap insufficient to progress. The second came when Nico Hulkenberg ran straight into the Turn 4 wall, breaking his front wing. Although he reversed out and returned to the pits, the German was also eliminated.

Piastri had been on fast laps during both earlier stoppages. His first attempt was aborted for Albon’s crash, while he narrowly crossed the line just two seconds before Hulkenberg’s incident brought out the red flag, with his time enough for second and safe passage to Q2.

The third stoppage came in the final seconds when both Alpine drivers were caught out.

Pierre Gasly locked up entering Turn 4 and came to a halt in the run-off, while teammate Franco Colapinto lost control at the same corner and hit the wall heavily.

Both joined Albon and Hulkenberg as Q1 casualties, with Esteban Ocon the other driver to miss the cut.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix begins at 3pm local time on Sunday (11pm AEST).