Within the qualifying session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc secured his fourth consecutive pole place on the Baku Metropolis circuit. Since 2021, he has been the prince of Baku, a minimum of on Saturdays, because the story has all the time modified on Sundays to date. As a consequence of an error within the morning, Charles Leclerc wasn’t in a position to check the race tempo of his SF-24 through the second free follow session. Primarily based on the work completed by Carlos Sainz, we may anticipate good competitiveness, however for the explanations talked about yesterday, specifically the information collected from Friday’s race tempo, we don’t precisely know what to anticipate from the others.
Oscar Piastri was very constant, and Sergio Perez, who will begin from P4, didn’t carry out badly both. The lengthy straights ought to enable for overtaking, though we imagine the race will largely come all the way down to technique and the drivers’ resilience. It gained’t be straightforward to maintain a cool head for all 51 laps.
For Lando Norris, who was eradicated in Q1 attributable to a yellow flag on the incorrect time, it will likely be powerful to climb again up from the underside of the grid. Overtaking is feasible in Baku, however actually not straightforward, particularly if one finally ends up caught in a DRS practice.
Charles Leclerc beats rivals in probably the most surprising sectorAfter dragging you thru this preamble, let’s concentrate on the precise matter: the place did Charles Leclerc make the distinction? A 3-tenths hole over the second-fastest driver is actually surprising. Let’s attempt to perceive the place it comes from.
Ferrari had proven from the primary free follow session that it may very well be a contender in qualifying, and all through the weekend, up till Q2, it was the quickest automobile within the first sector. The pattern was kind of this: SF-24 was one of the best within the first sector, Crimson Bull was clearly superior in S2, and S3 was a battle between Mercedes and Aston Martin. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, however particularly the Monegasque driver, have been very quick within the first sector, however then misplaced a couple of tenth to the Max Verstappen – Sergio Perez duo within the second sector and struggled within the closing half.
This might need been due, as prompt by the ‘Sky Sport F1’ journalists, to the truth that Ferrari’s engineers had chosen a setup that took higher benefit of the lengthy straights, sacrificing the center a part of the observe. Nevertheless, this rationalization didn’t absolutely persuade us. Simply take into consideration Monaco, a observe the place Charles Leclerc gained this yr. Why sacrifice Ferrari’s energy in gradual corners, one of many few robust factors of the SF-24 this yr? One thing didn’t add up.
And it nonetheless doesn’t add up, as a result of if we take a look at one of the best sectors recorded on the finish of Q3, we discover a major reversal of tendencies. On the finish of qualifying, Sergio Perez was the quickest within the first sector, clocking 35.649 (Charles 35.702, Piastri 35.782). The Monegasque driver made an enormous distinction within the second sector, posting a 40.813, whereas Oscar Piastri, the second quickest, did 40.972. Sergio Perez stopped at 41.043, and Carlos Sainz at 41.138, confirming he hadn’t modified something between Q2 and Q3. The third sector went to Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin with 24.524, with Charles Leclerc posting a 24.825, Oscar Piastri 24.803 and Sergio Perez 24.966.
With setups locked for your complete session, what may clarify this modification? In our opinion, Charles Leclerc could have adjusted one thing in tire administration throughout his quick lap in Q3. The Monegasque could have determined to sacrifice the primary sector to have extra grip within the central half and in direction of the top of the lap within the closing sector. Crimson Bull, then again, took the other strategy, being extra aggressive at first and fewer so within the closing stretch. No matter Charles managed to do, it allowed him to beat his rivals in probably the most surprising sector, S2, which had been Crimson Bull’s energy up till Q3.
Charles Leclerc additionally managed to benefit from the observe evolution, exhibiting way more balanced efficiency throughout the sectors in comparison with the opposite drivers from the highest 4 groups.
Notice on the circuit
The observe was dirtier than in earlier years as a result of, not like previous editions, it wasn’t correctly cleaned earlier than the arrival of F1. This triggered lap occasions to be noticeably slower in comparison with 2023 (about 1.1 seconds slower), when Charles Leclerc secured pole with a 1’40.203. Nevertheless, it must also be famous that the race came about in spring final yr, between April 28 and 30.
