Following his fairy-tale victory at the Italian Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc once again made his mark in Baku – the Monegasque secured pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in his Ferrari. With Oscar Piastri right behind him, followed by teammate Carlos Sainz, Leclerc believes that Ferrari has the right credentials to maximize their performance in the upcoming Grand Prix.
“It’s one of my favorite circuits on the calendar,” a satisfied Charles Leclerc said after the qualification. “The past few days have not been smooth sailing, but this qualification was truly fantastic.” During the first free practice, the 26-year-old driver crashed his Ferrari into the wall. “Fortunately, the pace was present throughout the weekend,” he continued.
Leclerc’s Qualifying Performance
During the qualifying round, Leclerc clocked the fastest time twice. What did the Monegasque do to improve himself? “I just wanted to get as close to the wall as possible,” he explained. “In that last lap, I really pushed a bit more and it clearly paid off.” His teammate, Carlos Sainz, will start just behind Leclerc in third place. “It doesn’t get better than this,” said the polesitter. “There’s a lot more grip on that section, so P1 and P3 are ideal.”
Carlos Sainz’s Performance
Carlos Sainz was also satisfied with the third time. The Spaniard is somewhat surprised that he finished so high on a circuit that usually doesn’t suit him well. “We had a solid qualification, both cars were in good shape,” he responded. “I haven’t always been very good here so P3 is a nice result. Our race pace also looked good so that promises something for tomorrow. Maybe I could have driven a bit harder to get past Piastri, but as I said, Baku is not my best circuit.”
