Charles Leclerc’s streak of four consecutive poles at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix came to a sudden end on Saturday, as the Ferrari driver crashed out in Q3 and will start Sunday’s race a lowly 10th on the grid.
Leclerc locked up and hit the barriers at Turn 16 in a dramatic close to qualifying, ending his run of dominance at the Baku City Circuit, a track where he has historically excelled.
Despite the setback, Leclerc noted progress with his car’s setup – until a switch to Pirelli’s medium tyre and an overzealous push derailed his efforts in the chaotic crash-strewn session.
“Struggling massively”
While his Scuderia teammate Lewis Hamilton found solid pace early on this weekend, Leclerc struggled to get into the groove, a stark contrast to his usual effortless “flow” in Azerbaijan.
“Oh yeah. Especially for me. I think Lewis was a lot more on the pace straight away and more consistent than I have been during the weekend,” Leclerc told Sky Sports.
“I have been struggling massively which normally I come to Baku and everything flows pretty naturally but unfortunately this year wasn’t the case.”
Leclerc worked tirelessly to diagnose the issue, tweaking the car’s setup in qualifying to improve its feel.
“I think I understood why and in qualifying I changed the car a lot to try and change the feeling, and the feeling was getting better until we actually put the medium tyres on and everything went [wrong],” he explained.
However, the decision to switch to medium tyres, which had shown promise in Friday’s practice, backfired spectacularly in Q3.
“It was very, very difficult the moment we put the medium tyre [on],” he said.
“For some reason yesterday, it felt like the better tyre on our car. Today, it felt like we could never reach the right window with the tyres and that made it very difficult very quickly.”
The tyre troubles culminated in Leclerc locking up and slamming into the Turn 16 barriers, triggering a red flag and ending his session prematurely.
The crash capped a frustrating day, leaving him well behind pole-sitter Max Verstappen, Williams’ Carlos Sainz in second, and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson in a surprise third.
Eyes on Recovery
Despite the chaos, Leclerc remains focused on salvaging the race amid an unusually mixed and an event that often offers opportunities for a strong comeback.
“There’s opportunity but it’s going to be tough to come back to the front anyway. There’s an opportunity and I will try,” Leclerc said.
“I will obviously look forward to and hopefully try to have a great Sunday with a disappointing Saturday. Normally, it’s been the other way around when I’ve come here. I am looking forward to turning the situation around.”
Leclerc’s challenge on Sunday will be to overcome both a tricky track and a frustrated qualifying session, as he looks to convert his speed into a race result that finally matches his historical prowess in Baku.
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