Riordan's mission: travel to a newly settled world and investigate whether a primitive local species was once sentient-enough so to have built a lost civilization. And now, Riordan is compelled to become an inadvertent agent of conspiracy himself. Humanity has achieved faster-than-light travel and is pioneering nearby star systems. Twelve years later, Riordan awakens to a changed world. George Russell of Mercedes was 11th after missing the cut in the second qualifying session by 0.004 seconds.2105, September: Intelligence Analyst Caine Riordan uncovers a conspiracy on Earth's Moon-a history-making clandestine project-and ends up involuntarily cryocelled for his troubles. Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was fifth for Mercedes and Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso was sixth. Sergio Perez, Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull, was third, ahead of Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jr. Leclerc has often struggled to convert pole positions into wins, with five career victories but 19 poles and none from either of his two earlier pole positions in Azerbaijan. On Thursday, he said he remained “fully committed” to Ferrari following a report in Italian media linking him with Mercedes. Prior to Friday, the closest Leclerc had come to pressuring the Red Bulls was when he qualified second last month in Saudi Arabia but had to take a 10-place grid penalty.

Verstappen said he felt his result was “not bad” but his final run had been “not the cleanest.” Red Bull was on pole for all three races earlier this season, with the driver on pole winning each time. “We must not forget that our race car is maybe still behind the Red Bull, so it’s going to be difficult to keep the lead, but that’s the target.” We came into the weekend thinking that it would be a great weekend if we are in front of Aston (Martin) and Mercedes in qualifying, and in the end we are on pole, so it’s a really good surprise,” Leclerc said. Leclerc and Verstappen had the exact same time midway through the final session of qualifying before both improved on their final runs, with Leclerc going faster by 0.188 seconds in his Ferrari to take pole in Baku for the third year in a row. That followed a tough start to 2023 for Ferrari and particularly for Leclerc, who swiftly saw his chances of challenging Verstappen for the title recede, with reliability issues and a car that was frequently the fourth-fastest in the pack behind Red Bull, Aston Martin and Mercedes. Tenth in the standings and with only a seventh-place finish to his name this season, Leclerc edged past Max Verstappen in qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Friday to end Red Bull’s streak of pole positions in Formula One this season. BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) - Charles Leclerc and Ferrari can start to hope again.

Fire with Fire by Charles E. Gannon