Despite an FP1 setback, Leclerc secures pole in Azerbaijan, bolstered by his fondness for the Baku circuit.
Charles Leclerc remains indomitable in Baku qualifying! The Ferrari driver has been unbeaten for the pole since 2021 in Azerbaijan, and he is elated to have once again clocked the fastest time this year, especially after a crash in the opening session of the weekend.
“This is one of my favourite circuits of the season, I really love it. The weekend hasn’t been easy with the crash in FP1, but I didn’t lose confidence because I knew the pace was there. However, in FP2, we encountered an issue with a new part and I lost some time,” Leclerc stated.
“It’s time that you never really recover. I wasn’t worried but I knew we had some catching up to do. But the pace was there and in Q3, it was about staying away from the walls. I pushed harder, the car was fantastic and it’s incredible to be on pole.”
Ferrari will start from first and third positions, and Leclerc believes this was the best the Scuderia could have hoped for. He also thinks the SF-24 is better equipped to aim for a race victory than its predecessors: “We could say this was the best we could have hoped for. I hope we can play a team game tomorrow but the race will be long.”
“In the past, we struggled on Sundays but we have a better race car this year. Tyre management will be crucial and we’ll need to do a very good job. We did well at Monza but we have to start from scratch and that’s what we’ve done. Degradation will be significant, we’ll need to adapt to all the compounds so we have to do our homework tonight to prepare.”
Carlos Sainz will therefore be third, and he is pleased with this result on a circuit where he admits he is not comfortable: “I think we had a solid qualifying with both cars, putting us in a good position for tomorrow. I’ve never been perfectly in rhythm here and that’s why I’m slightly behind.”
“But my pace was good yesterday and that’s promising for the race. The track was improving a lot and we were getting more and more grip. So it was about adapting because you could gain more and more confidence. And I found something that allowed me to reach Q3.”
Asked about aiming for second place, he insists it was he himself who was too far back: “If I had been a little quicker, yes, but this is Baku and I’ve never been the best version of myself here.”
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Leclerc Confident on Pole After FP1 Incident in Baku Leclerc Confident on Pole After FP1 Incident in Baku
