Leclerc earns pole for the Azerbaijan GP while title challenger Norris will start 16th

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Charles Leclerc qualified on pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and Max Verstappen was sixth on Saturday.

Lando Norris is set to start Sunday's race 16th following a session that could have a big impact on the Formula 1 title race.

Ferrari's Leclerc, who won the last race in Italy, was fastest by .321 seconds from McLaren's Oscar Piastri, and the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz Jr. was third. Pole marked a dramatic turnaround for Leclerc, who crashed in the first practice session Friday.

“It hasn’t been an easy weekend because (of) the crash in FP1, which didn’t make me lose confidence. I knew that the pace was there," Leclerc said. "But you’ve got to build back up to speed.”

Leclerc is on pole in Baku for the fourth year running, but he has yet to win the race.

Norris was on what seemed to be a lap fast enough to progress from the first part of qualifying as one of the top 15. But he had to slow for a yellow flag that was apparently for Esteban Ocon's slow-moving Alpine. Norris' time from his first lap missed the 15th-place cutoff by .137 of a second.

“There was nothing I could do” about the yellow flag, Norris said. “Frustrating, but now we look ahead to tomorrow and see where we can maximize the result.”

Norris was initially 17th in qualifying but moved up a place on the grid hours later when Pierre Gasly, who had been 13th, was disqualified for breaking rules on fuel flow rates.

Norris is second in the standings, 62 points behind Verstappen with eight races remaining. He has been steadily cutting into Verstappen's lead, finishing ahead of the champion at three of the last four races, including a win at Verstappen's home Dutch Grand Prix.

McLaren confirmed before the race weekend that it would favor Norris over Piastri to help his title challenge, with Norris suggesting the Australian would be asked to make way for him on track in some situations.

That almost certainly won't happen Sunday with 15 places separating the teammates in qualifying. Piastri is aiming to fight for a second career win.

“Our race pace is good, but the Ferrari is certainly not slow,” he said.

Defending champion Verstappen, who hasn't won any of the last six races, seemed better in Baku but was sixth and said he'd clipped a curb at “the worst time it could have happened.” Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was fourth, beating Verstappen in qualifying for the first time all year.

Verstappen said the Red Bull was improved from the Italian Grand Prix, where he finished sixth, but questioned whether the team's attempts to refine the setup ahead of qualifying made things worse.

"On a street circuit you need to be comfortable and confident to be able to attack corners and it is harder to do this when the car is a bit more unpredictable," he said.

George Russell was fifth for Mercedes, ahead of Verstappen, with Lewis Hamilton seventh and Fernando Alonso eighth for Aston Martin.

There was a bizarre incident in the final part of qualifying when Williams' Alex Albon stopped on his way out of the pits to remove a large cooling fan that the team left in his air intake. Albon qualified 10th and the team was fined 5,000 euros ($5,500). Throwing the cooling fan out of the car as Albon did was the “least worst option” because it avoided further disrupting the session, the stewards' ruling said.

Albon's teammate Franco Colapinto, in only his second F1 race weekend, was ninth in the best qualifying result for an Argentine driver in 42 years.

British teen Oliver Bearman, standing in at Haas for the suspended Kevin Magnussen, was 11th after recovering from a crash in the third practice Saturday morning.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix practice in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Haas driver Oliver Bearman of the United Kingdom walks through the pit lane during the Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Ali Haideric/Pool via AP)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands enters the pit lane during the Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Ali Haideric/Pool via AP)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain in action during a Formula One Grand Prix practice in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Supreme Court has denied the latest appeal by a man who has been on death row for 30 years after he was convicted of killing two college students.

The decision could clear the way for the state to set an execution date for Willie Jerome Manning, but his attorney said Tuesday that his legal team will seek a rehearing.

The court's majority wrote in a 5-4 ruling Monday that Manning “has had his days in court.” Dissenting justices wrote that a trial court should hold a hearing about a witness who wants to recant his testimony against Manning, 56, who has spent more than half his life in prison.

Manning's attorneys have filed multiple appeals since he was convicted in 1994 on two counts of capital murder in the December 1992 killings of Mississippi State University students Jon Steckler and Tiffany Miller. Their bodies were found in rural Oktibbeha County, and Miller’s car was missing. The car was found the next morning. Prosecutors said Manning was arrested after he tried to sell items belonging to the victims.

Krissy Nobile, Manning’s attorney and director of the Mississippi Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel, said Tuesday that the justices' majority ruling ignores "newly discovered evidence with the recantation of several key witnesses," including one who said in a sworn statement that she was paid $17,500 for fraudulent testimony.

“With the witness recantations and debunked forensic science, there is no evidence against Mr. Manning,” Nobile said. “There is no DNA, fibers, fingerprints, or other physical evidence linking Mr. Manning to the murders or the victims.”

Chief Justice Michael Randolph wrote the majority opinion rejecting Manning's request for a trial court hearing to determine whether witness Earl Jordan had lied.

“Petitioner has had more than a full measure of justice,” Randolph wrote of Manning. “Tiffany Miller and Jon Steckler have not. Their families have not. The citizens of Mississippi have not. Finality of justice is of great import in all cases.”

Nobile responded: “What measure of justice is served if the wrong man is put to death?”

Justice James Kitchens wrote the dissent.

“Today the Court perverts its function as an appellate court and makes factual determinations that belong squarely within the purview of the circuit court judge,” Kitchens wrote.

The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled decades ago that when a witness recants testimony, “the defendant/petitioner is entitled to an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the witness lied at trial or on his affidavit,” Kitchens wrote.

Manning has maintained his innocence and sought to have evidence in his case reexamined.

The latest appeal was based partly on Jordan saying he wanted to recant his testimony that while he and Manning were jailed together in Oktibbeha County, Manning had confessed to killing Steckler and Miller.

Jordan said in a sworn statement that he gave false testimony against Manning in hopes of himself receiving favorable treatment from Dolph Bryan, who was then sheriff of Oktibbeha County. Jordan wrote that he was “afraid to tell the truth” while Bryan was sheriff. Bryan left the job in January 2012.

In 2013, shortly before Manning was scheduled to be executed, the U.S. Justice Department said there had been errors in FBI agents’ testimony about ballistics tests and hair analysis in the case. Manning’s attorneys asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to stop the lethal injection, and justices voted 8-1 to delay the execution to allow the testing of evidence.

Manning’s attorneys asked an Oktibbeha County circuit judge for permission to send items to a more specialized lab. The judge denied that request, and the ruling was upheld by the Mississippi Supreme Court in 2022.

FILE - This April 2, 2019, booking photo provided by the Mississippi Department of Corrections shows death row inmate Willie Jerome Manning. (Mississippi Department of Corrections via AP, File)