Charles Leclerc beats Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez to pole position at Azerbaijan GP; Third year in a row Leclerc will start on pole in Baku; watch Azerbaijan host F1's first ever Sprint Shootout live on Sky Sports from 9am Sat
Saturday 29 April 2023 07:07, UK
Charles Leclerc admitted his surprise at claiming pole position for the Azerbaijan GP, but is relishing the challenge of keeping the Red Bulls behind on Sunday.
Leclerc claimed his third consecutive pole in Baku with a stunning final lap to finish a tenth of a second ahead of Max Verstappen, with Sergio Perez a further tenth back. Incredibly, Leclerc and Verstappen had set identical times on their first runs in Q3.
Leclerc's final effort ended Red Bull's domination of qualifying so far in 2023 and was a welcome boost for the Monegasque driver after a tricky start to the season that has seen him suffer two DNFs, a grid penalty and only pick up six points.
Ferrari have not brought upgrades to Baku and Leclerc said his pole lap had exceeded expectations.
"For sure, I'm surprised - we came into the weekend thinking that it would be a great weekend if we were in front of Aston Martin and Mercedes in qualifying," Leclerc said.
"And at the end, we are on pole, so it's a good surprise.
"We must not forget that our car is probably behind the Red Bull, so it's going to be difficult to keep the lead.
"But that's the target (winning the Grand Prix)."
He added to Sky Sports F1: "We still have another qualifying tomorrow (for the Sprint) so I hope it will be four in a row and then we have the races which are much more important. But I believe we will struggle a bit more because I still think Red Bull is a step ahead.
"We don't have new bits on the car, we just have a rear wing adapted to this. I think we have done a great job with the setup since Australia, we found something on that. How much is it better? It's very difficult to say for now, I think we will know a bit more on Sunday.
"I can also say the lap today was really, really good and really on the limit and everything I wanted to do I did it and there wasn't much in it. So I'm extremely happy."
Leclerc's pole was the 19th of his F1 career and the 10th he has taken since the start of last season, one more than Verstappen has managed in that time.
He has only converted four of those previous pole positions into victory, but Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok believes the 25-year-old now heads the field when it comes to one-lap performance.
"I genuinely think over one lap he is now the fastest driver we have in Formula 1," Chandhok said in commentary.
"His ability to extract that extra grip out of fresh tyres for one lap is immense.
"I do think he is the best qualifier we have on the grid right now."
Verstappen had been on provisional pole in Baku after the first runs in Q3 - courtesy of setting his lap a few seconds before Leclerc as the two matched each other exactly over the 6km circuit.
But the championship leader had to settle for P2 on the grid after failing to match Leclerc's improvement on the second run, ending up 0.188s behind.
The Dutchman believes a change in preparation technique on his final out lap for Q3 cost him pole.
"It's always tough around here to really put the whole lap together," he said. "I think also the second run we tried something different on the out lap, which maybe was not ideal for the lap time at the end.
"But around here, it's just really hard. In Q3, you're on the limit and then trying to make everything perfect; it's not the easiest.
"But nevertheless, we're P2, we know that we have a very good race car. So, all in all, it's not bad. You always want to start ahead, but we'll have to pass one car."
The Sprint Shootout - the new qualifying session for the Sprint race - takes place at 9.30am on Saturday, with build-up on Sky Sports F1 from 9am.
It will follow the same three-session knockout format as usual qualifying, but each Q1, Q2 and Q3 segment has been shortened to address engine and tyre concerns the teams had.
SQ1 has been shortened from 18 minutes to 12 minutes.
SQ2 has been shortened from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.
SQ3 has been shortened from 12 minutes to eight minutes.
The aim is that each car would only have one flying lap in each session, although two runs could be done in SQ1, while SQ2 and SQ3 would allow time for two timed laps without a pitstop in between attempts.
The other significant difference between the Sprint Shootout and regular qualifying will be restrictions on tyre usage.
While teams are free to use any of their available tyres in regular qualifying, in the Sprint Shootout new sets of tyres will be mandatory in each of the three parts, with medium compounds in SQ1 and SQ2 followed by a switch to softs in SQ3.
Lights out for the Sprint is at 2:30pm, with buildup live on Sky Sports F1 from 1.30pm. The top eight positions in the 100km race will claim points, but it will have no impact on Sunday's grid positions.
Formula 1 is back! Watch the Azerbaijan Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend. Saturday's Sprint Shootout at 9am, the Sprint at 1:30pm, and Sunday's race at 12pm. Get Sky Sports
