Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco stands in the pit lane throughout a apply session on the Baku circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan, Friday, April 28, 2023. The Formula One Grand Prix will probably be held on Sunday April 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Ferrari’s Leclerc got here in 0.188 sec forward of Verstappen in his Red Bull to begin the primary race from P1 on the grid. Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, was third, forward of Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jr. in fourth. Lewis Hamilton was fifth for Mercedes and Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso was sixth
Charles Leclerc and Ferrari can begin to hope once more.
Tenth in the standings and with solely a seventh-place end to his title this season, Leclerc edged previous Max Verstappen in qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Friday to finish Red Bull’s streak of pole positions in Formula One this season.
That adopted a tricky begin to 2023 for Ferrari and notably for Leclerc, who swiftly noticed his probabilities of difficult Verstappen for the title recede, with reliability points and a automobile that was regularly the fourth-fastest in the pack behind Red Bull, Aston Martin and Mercedes.
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Leclerc and Verstappen had the very same time halfway by means of the ultimate session of qualifying earlier than each improved on their closing runs, with Leclerc going quicker by 0.188 seconds in his Ferrari to take pole in Baku for the third 12 months in a row.
“For sure I’m surprised. We came into the weekend thinking that it would be a great weekend if we are in front of Aston (Martin) and Mercedes in qualifying, and in the end we are on pole, so it’s a really good surprise,” Leclerc stated. “We must not forget that our race car is maybe still behind the Red Bull, so it’s going to be difficult to keep the lead, but that’s the target.”
Red Bull was on pole for all three races earlier this season, with the motive force on pole-winning every time. Verstappen stated he felt his consequence was “not bad” however his closing run had been “not the cleanest.”
Prior to Friday, the closest Leclerc had come to pressuring the Red Bulls was when he certified second final month in Saudi Arabia however had to take a 10-place grid penalty. On Thursday, he stated he remained “fully committed” to Ferrari following a report in Italian media linking him with Mercedes.
Leclerc has usually struggled to convert pole positions into wins, with 5 profession victories however 19 poles and none from both of his two earlier pole positions in Azerbaijan.
Sergio Perez, Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull, was third, forward of Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jr. in fourth. Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was fifth for Mercedes and Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso was sixth. George Russell of Mercedes was eleventh after lacking the reduce in the second qualifying session by 0.004 seconds.
Pierre Gasly had a tricky day, coming nineteenth after hitting the wall in the primary session of qualifying. The French driver’s Alpine workforce was left working to repair his automobile for the second time after a hearth in apply earlier Friday triggered harm.
Gasly’s incident triggered the second pink flag of qualifying after Nyck de Vries took an excessive amount of velocity right into a nook and crashed his AlphaTauri into the barrier. De Vries begins twentieth and final. Kevin Magnussen is 18th following a technical drawback together with his Haas.
Friday’s qualifying session decided the grid for the primary grand prix on Sunday. There is a dash race Saturday however for the primary time, a second, shorter qualifying session will probably be held the identical day to set that grid.
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The new weekend schedule meant there was solely a single one-hour apply session, which was disrupted by Gasly’s hearth and a collection of yellow-flag incidents. A typical race weekend with no dash has three apply periods earlier than qualifying on Saturday afternoon.
“I’m really, really happy with the lap. I mean, it’s a very challenging weekend overall for us drivers because very little time to practice,” Leclerc said. “We only had one FP1 (first practice session) and then you need to be straight on it but the feeling was good since the start. So we’re really, really happy.”
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