Charles Leclerc nicks Azerbaijan F1 GP pole from Pérez and Verstappen | Formula One

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Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc claimed his sixth pole position in eight 2022 grands prix in Azerbaijan. The 24-year-old Monegasque is hoping for a change in the misfortune that has prevented him winning the last two races, in Spain and Monaco.

Leclerc starts in Baku nine points behind reigning world champion Max Verstappen, with Ferrari 36 points behind Red Bull Racing in the constructors’ championship after four successful races wins by the British team.

The pole position fight was once more a two-team affair, with Ferrari and Red Bull locking out the front two rows of the grid for the sixth time this year. But it is not Verstappen who shares the front row of the grid with Leclerc, but teammate Sergio Pérez, who out-qualified the Dutchman for the third time this season.

Pérez, whose win in Monte Carlo a week ago was his third race victory and saw him supplant Pedro Rodríguez as the most successful Mexican F1 driver, is something of a Baku street circuit specialist.

He has finished on the podium three times since the race joined the F1 schedule in 2016, including winning a dramatic 2021 race when Verstappen, leading, suffered a high-speed tire blow-out.

Leclerc too, is dynamite around the challenging 3.7 miles, and is the first man to take more than one pole position at the track. A feature of the season has been Ferrari’s superiority over a single lap, but Red Bull’s advantage in race trim, with stronger straight line speed and more benign tire usage often allowing Verstappen to overhaul Leclerc.

And yet Leclerc, who only suffered at the hands of questionable Ferrari race strategy in Monaco, remains optimistic. “The pole lap felt really good,” he said. “I’m excited for the race. Tire management is a big thing here and when we brought out car upgrade in Spain we made a step forward, which we didn’t get to see in Monaco. I’m excited for the race.”

Verstappen was very much the dominant Red Bull driver en route to his first world title last year, with an average qualifying advantage of 0.4s over Pérez. This year, however, with different rules and a changed car design concept, there has often been just hundredths of a second between the pair. Pérez, with a new two-year Red Bull contract extension, is driving with total confidence. Just six points behind Leclerc in the championship and 15 adrift of his teammate, it will be interesting to see if he is moved aside to prioritise Verstappen in the race.

Baku, with its long front straight, is one of F1’s easier tracks on which to overtake and the close proximity of walls and barriers means a race with much jeopardy and often multiple safety car interventions and restarts.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said: “We’ve had a good and competitive race car everywhere and I hope we can give Ferrari a hard time.”

Charles Leclerc drives through the streets of Baku en route to pole position for the Azerbaijan F1 GP. Photograph: Bryn Lennon/Formula 1/Getty Images

Behind the two dominant teams, George Russell was best of the rest for Mercedes in fifth position, out-qualifying seven-time world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton for the fifth time in eight starts this year, with a stand-out performance by Frenchman Pierre Gasly splitting the two Mercedes on the Azerbaijan grid.

Stewards investigated Hamilton for driving unnecessarily slowly and delaying Lando Norris, but the FIA ​​decided against taking action.

“I’ve got mixed feelings,” Russell said. “The car felt good but it’s shocking to look at the times and see we are more than 1.3s from pole position.”

The team has been unable to solve its bouncing, or porpoising issue that is both drivers an uncomfortable ride when the car is set up at its lowest ride height to optimize all-important aerodynamic downforce around what is an inherently giving bumpy track.

Russell said: “I’m feeling every single bump and the car is as rigid as I’ve ever felt it. “It’s bouncing so much that I can barely spot the braking zones.”

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“I’m not surprised,” Hamilton confirmed, “It was the same in Monaco… But this is a tricky and often chaotic race where anything can happen.”

Hamilton is not wrong there, something that pole man Leclerc will be acutely aware of. He would much prefer a simple, drama-free afternoon to get his championship challenge back on track. He’s unlikely to get it.

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