Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claims fourth straight pole in Baku
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Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc (above), who won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in his last outing, continued his supreme single lap form to wind up three-tenths of a second ahead of Oscar Piastri of the McLaren at the qualifying session of the Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sept 14.
PHOTO: AFP
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BAKU – Charles Leclerc of Ferrari secured pole for the fourth consecutive year at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sept 14 as McLaren’s title contender Lando Norris suffered a qualifying nightmare and will start in 17th place.
The Monegasque driver, who won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in his last outing, continued his supreme single-lap form to wind up three-tenths of a second ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. It was the 26th pole of his career at a track where he has yet to win.
“It’s one of my favourite tracks of the season,” said Leclerc, who crashed in practice on Sept 13.
“It hasn’t been an easy weekend for me with the crash in first practice and then a problem in second practice with a new part. I wasn’t worried, but the pace was already there and, in my last lap, I went for it a bit more. It is amazing to be on pole again!”
Carlos Sainz was third in the second Ferrari and Sergio Perez fourth for Red Bull ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell. Three-time world champion and series leader Max Verstappen was sixth in the second Red Bull as his recent struggles continued.
Verstappen leads Norris by 62 points in the title race with eight races of the season remaining.
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was seventh for Mercedes ahead of two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, Argentinian newcomer Franco Colapinto of Williams and his teammate Alexander Albon.
Piastri had been third after the first flying laps, with Ferrari one-two, but found some extra speed with his final effort.
“I got a little bit close to the walls on the last lap, just tried to get the most out of it. This track rewards commitment and the last lap in Q3, I knew I had a little less to lose, so just tried to maximise the car,” said the Australian.
The session began in slanting sunshine across the old city by the Caspian Sea, the Mercedes duo quick to enter the fray on medium tyres for two exploratory laps of the slippery street track.
As the conditions improved, Leclerc produced a lap in 1min 42.775sec to go top while Mercedes switched to softs, Russell swiftly jumping to second and Hamilton to fourth.
But in a final scramble for places, as Piastri went third behind Leclerc and Albon, Norris pitted and missed the cut, eliminated in 17th place ahead of only the Saubers and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. RB’s Daniel Ricciardo was also out.
It was Norris’ first Q1 elimination since the Las Vegas race in 2023.
“The lap was good enough, but it was a yellow flag so I had to back off. It was unlucky. There’s a long race ahead, we have some good tyres in the bank. I’m still hopeful we can get a good result. I think the car is quick. Bit frustrating, but nothing I can do,” said Norris.
Q2 saw Verstappen on top ahead of Leclerc with Perez and Sainz third and fourth respectively.
After a final flurry, Alonso rose to fifth and Colapinto to sixth while Albon hung on to 10th to push Oliver Bearman out in 11th along with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg of Haas and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
The top-10 shoot-out began with Leclerc on top ahead of Sainz after an early lap by Russell. As the final laps began, Albon left the pits with an airbox fan still attached to his Williams car. He pulled it off and threw it to a marshal. This bizarre incident did not distract Ferrari or Leclerc, however, as he reeled off 1:41.365 to grab pole position.
Off the track, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said Formula One teams could replace the regular post-season young driver test in Abu Dhabi with a non-championship 10-car sprint race for rookies. The last race of the season is at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina on Dec 8.
Horner said it would be a fantastic opportunity to do something more meaningful than “just running around burning fuel and tyres and only the teams that are running those drivers knowing whether they’re doing a good job or not.”
The sprint format, with qualifying and a 100km race on the same day, would give potentially 10 drivers the chance to compete against one another in current cars without teams worrying about damage. AFP, REUTERS
