Charles Leclerc (Ferrari/2nd) warns: “The gap is huge!”

First and foremost, the good news for all Ferrari fans: Charles Leclerc will start the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in second place. The bad news: he is almost a second behind pole-sitter George Russell (Mercedes), who put in a fabulous lap.

Leclerc after qualifying in Baku: “It was a good lap; Lewis (team-mate Hamilton, ed.) was three or four seconds ahead of me. I managed to put in a good lap at the end. But when I look at the gap to George, it wasn’t good enough.”

Leclerc is 8.5 tenths of a second – almost a full second – behind George Russell on pole. For second on the grid, it ultimately doesn’t matter how close or far Leclerc is from the pole-sitter – yet it’s perhaps not the best sign. With the exception of the third practice session, in which Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) was fastest, Mercedes had the edge. On top of that, Kimi Antonelli didn’t even feature in the pole battle because he crashed early on in qualifying.

Leclerc: “We’ve been struggling all weekend and expected to be well off the pace. But after a good third practice session this morning, I had a little hope. As far as the position is concerned, it’s what we expected. But as for the gap, it’s much bigger than we’d anticipated.”

The Ferrari driver said: “The car felt better than it did for the rest of the weekend. We had problems. It’s really difficult to get these tyres into the right window, especially this weekend.”

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And looking at Russell, he has to admit: “The gap is huge! Eight tenths is a lot. So there’s plenty we need to improve on. Normally, our weakness is pace on the straights. Today, George made the difference in the second sector.”

At least one aspect of the car gives Leclerc confidence ahead of the race. The Monegasque said: “We’ve got a good car for the race. We’re often better in the race than in qualifying. I hope that’s the case this weekend too.”

Incidentally, Charles Leclerc holds the record for pole positions at the Baku City Circuit. He has started the race from the front four times. However, he has never managed to win. In that respect, perhaps it’s a good omen that he didn’t secure pole position? We’ll find out tomorrow from 1 pm during the Grand Prix…