Charles Leclerc apologised to his Ferrari team and called himself “stupid” after a costly crash in qualifying wrecked his hopes of starting at the front for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Valtteri Bottas took an unexpected pole position for Mercedes-GP, ahead of world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton.
It was Frenchman Leclerc who looked well set to take pole, having dominated the practice sessions in Baku, but he went off at Turn 8 during the second part of qualifying. It means he will start the race, which begins at 4.10pm UAE time, from ninth place.
Visibly anguished as he got out of his car, the 21 year old told his team on the pit radio: “I am stupid. I am stupid."
Leclerc remains hopeful he can still challenge for a points finish despite starting on the fifth row.
"I am very disappointed,” he said. “I was strong all weekend. It is a mistake I should not have done.
"I will try and understand what I did wrong and come back stronger next weekend. I have not thought about tomorrow but I am pretty sure we can have a positive race."
Leclerc’s error opened the door for Bottas and Mercedes, who continued their strong start to the season, having won the first three races.
Bottas claimed his second successive pole, and the eighth of his career, with a last-gasp lap of 1 minute, 40.495 seconds to edge out Hamilton by just 0.059 secs.
He acknowledged Mercedes had been on the back foot throughout the weekend before qualifying, but would now look to exploit their good fortune.
“It was a nice lap and Ferrari have been really strong. Obviously Charles was out by a mistake and as a team we feel really good to be where we are now,” Bottas said.
Hamilton, winner of the last two grands prix, in Bahrain and China, said he knows he will have to be at his best to deny his teammate victory on Sunday. A puncture in the closing laps denied Bottas victory in Baku 12 months ago and the Finn came through from the back of the field to finish second in 2017.
“Valtteri is always quick here so will have my work cut out,” said Hamilton, who leads Bottas by six points in the standings.
Hamilton had feared Mercedes could struggle in Baku, given both Ferrari and Red Bull Racing brought new parts to their their packages this weekend, but those doubts proved unfounded in qualifying.
“Ferrari looked good and Valtteri did an exceptional job,” he added. "We didn't have any upgrade and for us to get lock-out due to circumstance, I am grateful for that.”
Leclerc’s teammate Sebastian Vettel could only qualify third in the second Ferrari.
The four-time world champion admitted he was puzzled as to why Ferrari had lost their pace edge over Mercedes after looking so good earlier in the weekend.
"I am happy that we got sort of the maximum but not happy overall from the team point of view as we were expecting to have a better session with Charles and myself,” Vettel said.
“I think we thought we would be closer to the front.”
Max Verstappen was the best of the rest for Red Bull in fourth, ahead of Sergio Perez’s Racing Point and the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat.
Verstappen’s teammate Pierre Gasly was fastest in the first part of qualifying but will start Sunday's race from the pitlane.
The Frenchman was punished by the stewards for ignoring a request to stop for a weighbridge check during practice on Friday.
