After the victory in Monza, Charles Leclerc continues with his splendid form, scoring a poker in Baku with the fourth consecutive pole position in Azerbaijan during GP qualifying. The serenity and concentration needed to tackle a Formula 1 qualifying session was undermined by the Monegasque's call-up by the stewards for an apparent failure to decelerate under the yellow flag during FP3: "I didn't know what decision they would make, but I went there calmly because I knew I had done the only thing possible at that moment. I am always very honest with myself, so I was calm. I focused on qualifying and that was it." Once the state of alert was overcome, everything went well.
Leclerc's statements at the Baku GP
“This is one of my favorite tracks on the calendar,” Leclerc began in his post-qualifying statements for the Baku GP. “It wasn’t an easy weekend after free practice, but I didn’t lose heart because I knew we had the pace to stay ahead. After a mistake you still have to make up ground. We lost about thirty minutes also due to problems with a new part we brought here to Baku and those are minutes you can’t make up on the track. So I’m not saying I was worried, but I knew we had to make up some time. We had race pace right from the start, in Q3 we just had to try to stay as far away from the walls as possible. On the last lap I decided to push a bit more and the time came out very naturally, the car gave me great feelings.”
The race pace is there and Sainz's third place can only help Ferrari
Without a doubt, Sainz’s presence in third place can give Ferrari a better chance of success in tomorrow’s race: “Our qualifying is the best result we could hope for. Normally the odd part of the grid is where there is less grip, but this year it is no longer the case. So first and third in qualifying is a very good result to be able to do well in the race tomorrow, but it will be a very long one”. On Ferrari’s improvements in the race this year: “This season we are much quicker in the race than in qualifying, but tyre management will be a very important factor like in Monza. But every race is different. I came here knowing that I could change the balance of the car and every time it is like that I feel very confident. There was no oversteer or understeer balance, I could manage it with my driving, so I felt very confident.
Will the Monegasque be able to close the circle in the 2024 Baku GP after four pole positions? The Ferrari driver says: “I think that in the 2021 and 2023 seasons we certainly didn't have the car to win, but the race pace was good. In 2022 we had the chance to win, but the engine blew up. For this year it will be very important to adapt quickly to the car loaded with fuel, but I think we are really strong on race pace. Obviously there is always a difference between the possibilities we have on paper and what can actually happen. I know for sure that I will do everything to complete the work started with this qualifying.
