Charles Leclerc stuns Red Bulls to claim Baku pole for Ferrari.
Another Ferrari Pole in Azerbaijan.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc produced a stunning performance to beat Max Verstappen to pole position in a chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix Qualifying.
Having held championship aspirations ahead of the 2023 campaign, Ferrari have started right where they left off in 2022 with a torrid start to the season, but after the four-week break that followed the Australian Grand Prix they delivered a huge upturn in performance at the Baku City Circuit.
Only time will tell if they can convert that into a win during the weekend.
Having set an identical time to world championship leader Verstappen on their first runs in the final part of Qualifying, Leclerc was then able to improve with a 1:40.203 to top the Verstappen by almost 0.2s, with Sergio Perez a further tenth back in third in the other Red Bull.
Leclerc will start from the front of the grid in Sunday’s Grand Prix, before which there is a standalone double of Sprint qualifying and a shortened race on Saturday as Formula 1 debuts its newly approved format at the first of six Sprint weekends scheduled for this season.
Azerbaijan GP Qualifying Result
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull
- Sergio Perez, Red Bull
- Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
- Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
- Lando Norris, McLaren
- Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
- Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
- Oscar Piastri, McLaren