AZERBAIJAN GP – Charles Leclerc takes pole for the sprint a tenth and a half ahead of Sergio Perez
Charles Leclerc followed up race pole position by taking pole for this afternoon’s sprint race at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Ferrari went into the weekend looking to bounce back following Red Bull’s domination of the opening three races, Leclerc set a 41.697 going nearly a tenth and a half faster than Sergio Perez.
Ferrari will see qualifying on pole for both races as a step forwards however this afternoon’s sprint race will provide answers to whether Red Bull has the better car in race trim having dominated the first three races of the season. Max Verstappen was third nearly three tenths off Leclerc after he lost the rear and just kept it out of the barriers on his last attempt in SQ3.
There may be controversy after Leclerc’s crash, as there is an ongoing debate in F1 as to whether a driver who crashes on his final qualifying run should be penalised for doing so, as it potentially can affect other drivers. However, the incident only affected his teammate, Carlos Sainz. It disproved the theory which some had about drivers potentially taking it easier on Saturday, but Baku does create drama.
SQ3 also highlighted one of the emerging themes with the soft tyre they are struggling to retain the performance in a single tyre for multiple timed runs in the final part of qualifying.
Leclerc’s double represents a stunning upturn in performance for Ferrari, whose pre-season championship aspirations appeared to have been shattered as Red Bull dominated the first three races of the campaign before the four-week. the sprint race later today could provide answers to whether Ferrari has an answer to Red Bull’s impressive race pace.
As had been the case in Friday’s Qualifying, Leclerc traded quick times with the Red Bulls throughout the session, before once more pushing himself clear in its final part.
Verstappen had gone fastest on his first run before losing his rear on his final run in SQ3 meaning he couldn’t improve on his last run. While Leclerc was another casualty of the barriers crashing the Ferrari on his second attempt in SQ3 at Turn Five.
Leclerc said, “We have seen Red Bull’s DRS power. It will be a big challenge with the DRS activating after one lap in the Sprint. I will have pressure from behind but I will try and make the difference in the second sector.”
Verstappen added “Everything was going quite well. I think the pace was good but first lap in SQ3 I had a big moment in five and six and then the tyres are really hot and I had a moment in seven.”
After being knocked out in Q2 on Friday for the Grand Prix, George Russell set his sights on bouncing back. The Mercedes looked more settled during the session with Russell going fourth but was still nearly a quarter a second behind Verstappen. Sainz spilt the two Mercedes, the Spaniard going two-tenths faster than Lewis Hamilton.
Compared to last nights race qualifying Russell was the only driver to significantly improve, as well as on his second SQ3 run to get into the top four on the grid this afternoon.
The new Sprint weekend format, which is debuting at the Baku City Circuit, delivered a frenetic finale as the shortened eight-minute final part of the session saw the contenders attempt to complete two laps on the same set of tyres.
The first runs on the new soft tyres were always likely to be pivotal, with performance unlikely to be maintained on a second flying lap. That theory was proven by Leclerc when he made his mistake. However the questions about whether dr
Williams continued to show the step forwards with Alex Albon going seventh, the British-Thai driver going a tenth and a half quicker than Fernando Alonso. Alonso still being affected by the DRS issues he had during race qualifying on Friday, but went five hundredths faster than his teammate Lance Stroll.
A spokesperson said: “The DRS operation issue remains unresolved across both cars during that shoot-out.”
McLaren’s gamble of taking an extra set of softs in Q3 for the race left Lando Norris without the soft tyres to compete in SQ3 leaving him unable to compete. The rules for sprint qualifying mandates that only one set of new soft tyres can be used for SQ3 and he used them to get through to Q3 yesterday for the Grand Prix.
McLaren would have been hoping that Norris’s teammate Oscar Piastri got through, but the times were close with the Australian missing out by three hundredths. But this weekend looks as if has given McLaren a step forwards following the difficult start to the season.
Nico Hulkenberg was twelfth nearly four tenths behind Piastri, with the Haas escaping a near miss with the wall after locking up at Turn Seven. But Haas has struggled to find the pace all weekend to challenge in the top ten, the German going two-tenths faster than Esteban Ocon.
It has been a difficult weekend for Alpine, with them looking to bounce back from Melbourne, both drivers failing to make it through to SQ3 and Pierre Gasly still hampered by issues and Was knocked out in SQ1.
Logan Sargent did make it through to SQ2 however brought the red flags out in the final moments of SQ1. The American was safely through to the next session but says that the “Ferraris were in the middle of the road” on the exit of the Old City section.
Sargeant’s crash brought a premature end to the first part of the Sprint Shootout, which cost Yuki Tsunoda a chance of getting through to SQ2. The Alpha Tauri driver aborted his lap which looked good enough to get him through to SQ2. Tsunoda going a tenth faster than Gasly and teammate Nyck De Vries.
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AZERBAIJAN GP – Charles Leclerc takes pole for the sprint a tenth and a half ahead of Sergio Perez
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