Ocon qualifies 14th after yellow flag halts Q2 bid

Esteban Ocon qualified 14th for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after slowing on his final Q2 attempt when a yellow flag appeared at Baku, ending his chance to advance to the top-10 shootout. The flag followed an off-track incident involving Arvid Lindblad. Ocon said he believed his lap had been on course for Q3, but that assessment has not been independently confirmed by timing or telemetry data provided in the reports. Ocon said he had to back off as he approached Turn 15 to comply with the yellow flag. He estimated the slowdown cost him three or four tenths of a second, leaving him 0.333 seconds short of the Q2 cutoff. The reports identify the flag as the reason his final attempt was compromised; whether the lap would have been fast enough to reach Q3 remains uncertain. The Haas driver described the result as another setback in a season he said had been marked by problems. He said inconsistent car performance had affected him in 10 of the first 15 rounds, a figure that reflects his account rather than an independently established team assessment. In Baku, however, Ocon said the car was working well and that the team’s improvements had given him a realistic opportunity to progress.