“This is the track of Leclerc and Ferrari”. The comment is from Toto Wolff, notoriously not dressed in red, but it was not only the Mercedes team principal who praised the work of the Scuderia and the feeling that for years has made the Leclerc-Ferrari tandem the ‘master’ of Baku.
Charles’ fourth consecutive pole in Azerbaijan was anything but a given until the second run of Q3, when he swept the field clean of recriminations (from his opponents) by three tenths ahead of Oscar Piastri, the first of the others. A lap in which Leclerc gave it his all, as is usual on street circuits, and the ‘all’ raised the bar of performance considerably.
J Balvin presents Charles Leclerc, Scuderia Ferrari, with the Pirelli pole position award
Photo credit: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images
“But if I think back to all the poles I got here, I don’t think today was the best,” Charles commented. “The 2021 pole was probably the most special because we were in a really difficult year where we were fighting for ninth or tenth place.”
Today it’s a different Ferrari, Carlos Sainz’s third position is confirmation of this, but the half a second gained by the Spaniard (who was still happy) from his teammate is the measure of the feeling between Baku and Leclerc.
“I can’t even explain it,” Charles admitted. “On this track my pace is very consistent, it’s a circuit I like, but I can’t explain why. My driving style probably suits this layout well, but I want to say that you also need a car that gives you confidence. The car started with a good base in FP1, we didn’t have to change much, the balance was good from the first laps and we just made the necessary changes to follow the evolution of the track.”
There is a significant difference between last year’s pole positions and the one achieved today. Twelve months ago, the SF-23 was a car that gave its best in qualifying, the ‘beautiful car of Saturday night’ that in the race showed chronic problems in tyre management.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
This year the scenario has changed, and although it is really difficult to make predictions in view of the 51 laps scheduled for tomorrow, Ferrari is certain that it will be in the game. “In free practice I was not able to do any laps with a full tank of fuel,” Leclerc stressed, “but we know that this year our car has race pace as its strong point, so I am not worried. We will do the best job with our package and see if it is good enough to win.”
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Frederic Vasseur, assessing a very positive day for the Scuderia, also praised the work of Sainz, who will start behind Leclerc tomorrow. “We know that Baku is one of Charles’s favourite tracks,” he explained, “but I am also happy for Carlos, who has made a big step forward on this track. His third place is very good and for us it means having both cars in an excellent starting position for tomorrow.” If the start proves to be linear, Ferrari will be able to count on two cars in the very top positions, an extra plus in view of a race that is impossible to plan with much certainty.
Leclerc believes in it, and it couldn’t be otherwise. After four consecutive pole positions, Charles hopes to break the Sunday taboo. “It would be nice. In 2021 and 2023 we didn’t have a car to win, in 2022 the car was good but then the engine exploded. I hope that tomorrow the pace is good and that nothing stops us from fighting, but I repeat, this is a difficult track, at the moment I will focus on preparing in the best possible way”.
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