Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying: Third pole in a row for Vettel

"Something is broken," wailed Romain Grosjean to the Haas team, just four minutes into Q1, triggering the double-waved yellows in the first sector and utterly ruining everyone else's laps. On a street circuit, chances for overtaking are limited; Grosjean will not have a good day starting from the back of the grid tomorrow.

Sergio Perez had an odd lap too, flying off at a corner without a time on the clock and with only seven minutes left. It was a bit of a contrast to his team-mate, Esteban Ocon, who was second-fastest on track at that point.

Actually, there were plenty of cars veering off as they endeavoured to slice hundredths off their times, with Pierre Gasly struggling to get his Toro Rosso turned round and back on track after an incident alongside team-mate Brendon Hartley, stricken with a puncture.

Meanwhile, it was Kimi Raikkonen going quickest for Ferrari in a bunched-up top of the field.

Lewis Hamilton reverted to over-reaction mode, reporting a "massive lock-up", but the Mercedes team weren't too bothered.

And rightly so - he promptly fired in a lap of 1:42.676 to go three-thousandths of a second quicker than his team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

It was Raikkonen's turn to fly off and require the assistance of the escape road, but the Ferrari was quickly back on the track - even though it took him right up until the chequered flag to record the quickest lap of the session.

Championship leader Sebastian Vettel made the breakthrough in Q3, going three-tenths quicker than Hamilton with his first lap.

Although the Brit managed to close the gap a little, it wasn't enough to get provisional pole - and meanwhile Raikkonen was putting in a blistering lap as the chequered flag waved. Then a mistake on the application of power coming into one of the final corners meant he lost time, gifting the prime slot to his team-mate.

On a track that doesn't encourage overtaking, drivers will be keen to minimise errors - and teams will be focused on strategy. Ferrari saw some excellence from Vettel on the track today - but also saw the cost of a mistake from Raikkonen, who really should have been on the front row tomorrow.

Another mix-up at Toro Rosso, with miscommunication from team-mates Gasly and Hartley - who looked very pale and shocked after the incident, clearly a complete accident, but one that was lucky not to end in a serious crash.

Daniel Ricciardo, last year's winner, high on confidence and always ready to pounce on errors from rivals.

Vettel - Ricciardo - Raikkonen