Leclerc claims fourth straight Baku pole : Ferrari driver dominates qualifying at Azerbaijan Grand Prix, title rival Norris struggles

AFP | Baku

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Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured pole for the fourth consecutive year at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix yesterday ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. As title challenger Lando Norris of McLaren qualified only 17th, 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 Piastri.

It was the 26th pole of his career at a track where he has yet to win. 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 Fernan - do Alonso of Aston Martin , Argentine new boy Franco Colapinto of Williams and his teammate Alex Albon. “It’s one of my favourite tracks of the season,” said Leclerc.

“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 wasnt 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!” 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 1:42.775 to go top while Mercedes switched to softs, Russell swiftly jumping to second and Hamilton to fourth.

But in a final scrabble 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’s first Q1 elimination since the Las Vegas race last year (2023). “The lap was good enough, but it was a yellow flag so I had to back off,” said Norris.

Q2 saw Verstappen on top ahead of Leclerc with Perez and Sainz third and fourth. After a final flurry, Alonso rose to fifth and Colapinto to sixth while Albon hung on to 10th to push 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-ten shootout began with Leclerc, in 1:46.610, 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 1:43.365 to grab his fourth consecutive Baku pole.