In Baku, he is the king of pole position! Charles Leclerc will start Sunday for the fourth consecutive time in the lead of the Azerbaijan Formula 1 Grand Prix, after having set the best time in qualifying on Saturday.
In “the city of winds” – Baku owes this nickname to the winds that continually blow in the capital – this performance bodes well for the Monegasque on an urban track that he loves and which recalls “his” Monaco circuit surrounded by merciless walls.
However, taking pole position does not mean victory at the finish line, since the Ferrari driver, winner of the last GP in Italy at the beginning of September, has never won there.
Leclerc, who will start in front of the McLaren of Australian Oscar Piastri, nevertheless tried to reassure himself on Saturday: “normally, the even side of the grid has less grip, so we wanted to start from first and third places” – a 3rd place on the grid that will be occupied by his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz.
But beware of the “street fighter” Sergio Perez, 4th in qualifying. The Mexican from Red Bull, who has not won since April 2023, and in Baku precisely, holds the record for victories (two) on the circuit.
– Verstappen 6th, Norris trapped –
For this 17th round of the season (out of 24), championship leader Max Verstappen (Red Bull) will only be 6th, behind the Mercedes of Briton George Russell, 5th.
Although the Dutchman thus achieved one of his worst performances of the season in qualifying, he remains in a strong position against his closest pursuer in the championship, Lando Norris, only 17th.
The Briton, second overall, 62 points behind Verstappen, explained that he was hampered by a yellow flag on his only fast lap in the first part of qualifying (Q1), forcing him to slow down.
The McLaren driver could give up big points to his Dutch rival in the title race. “I still hope we can get a good result, the car is fast,” he tried to reassure himself on Saturday.
According to the recent team instructions revealed this weekend by the Woking team and intended to favour Norris over Piastri, the former should also benefit from the help of his teammate to try to catch up with Verstappen.
– Surprising Colapinto –
The fourth row will see two former multiple world champions rub shoulders, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 7th, having beaten Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), 8th.
Argentinian Franco Colapinto, who is competing in only his second top-flight GP with Williams, will start 9th, ahead of his unlucky teammate Alexander Albon, 10th.
The Thai driver was the victim of a mistake by his team which allowed him to leave the pits at the end of qualifying…with a fan on his single-seater.
French Alpine team riders Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon failed to qualify in the top ten. They will start the GP in 13th and 19th place respectively, which will start at 15:00 (13:00 Paris time).
Since the first free practice on Friday, Ocon has had a series of technical problems with his A524, keeping him in the garage. These are setbacks that the Norman could have done without on the eve of competing in his 150th F1 GP.
hdy/vol
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