Ferrari’s Leclerc Claims Fourth Consecutive Baku Pole

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for the fourth consecutive year, outpacing McLaren’s Oscar Piastri by 0.321 seconds. Despite his dominant performance, Leclerc has never won a race in Baku and faces challenges after a difficult weekend including crashing during practice and encountering technical issues with his car.

He remains hopeful for a strong race performance, citing improvements in Ferrari’s race pace this season. Lando Norris, who trails championship leader Max Verstappen by 62 points encountered a setback in qualifying. Norris initially qualified 17th but will start 16th because Alpine’s Pierre Gasly received disqualification for a technical infringement.

Norris’s hopes dwindled when a yellow flag on his final lap ruined his chances of advancing. The yellow flag appeared due to Esteban Ocon’s Alpine car which had stopped after hitting a wall, though McLaren has questioned the necessity of the flag. Max Verstappen qualified sixth, failing to match his usual pace while his teammate Sergio Perez secured fourth.

Despite Red Bull’s ongoing struggles, Norris had an opportunity to capitalize on Verstappen’s difficulties but will focus on minimizing damage from his starting position. Mercedes driver George Russell qualified fifth with Lewis Hamilton in seventh. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Williams’ Franco Colapinto rounded out the top ten.

Argentine rookie Franco Colapinto impressed with a ninth-place finish on only his second outing for Williams replacing the sacked Logan Sargeant. Oliver Bearman made a notable debut for Haas, qualifying 11th despite crashing in final practice.

Gasly’s disqualification means he will start from the back after breaching the fuel-flow limit. Bearman expressed disappointment with his performance, particularly due to a mistake in the castle section of the circuit.