Leclerc steals pole from Verstappen in Baku; Sainz 4th and Alonso, DRS problems

The excitement is expected raw and the classification this Friday did not disappoint. That’s what you’re looking for Formula 1 with weekend sprint formats as reviewed for this Grand Prix. Instead of boring free practice sessions that monopolized the first day, this Friday there was action and good on the always difficult track in Azerbaijan. Real fire and fight without quarter for the post between the walls of Baku. The fan appreciates it. And the best example is what happened in Q3, with the pole Charles Leclerc’s stratospheric performance after an even battle with Verstappen and Pérez helped the Monegasque take pole position. Only two applicants are missing from that battle: Sainz was 4th with an uncomfortable ride and Alonso 6th because his DRS failed. Fernando had a car at the top but that element stopped him. The data doesn’t lie: the Aston Martins are the cars with the lowest top speed in ‘qualification’, as they can only open DRS between turns 2 and 3 but not on the main straight. Fernando has to come back on Sunday with a car that looks great.

Verstappen he took provisional pole in his first test in Q3 with a time exactly the same as Leclerc’s. Yes, stamped! Pérez was third, on guard, by more than a tenth. One last bullet was left. And came the final climax. ‘The beginning’ He came on strong after a poor start to the campaign to seal pole position and finally give Ferrari a long-awaited and much-needed jolt. Leclerc surprised Max with a great last lap and grabbed the top starting position for Sunday’s race by 0″188.

‘Czech’ Perez it looks like he can handle that fight, as he paints the first sector purple, but in the end he can’t do anything to improve that. third place (at 0″292).

RESULT CLASSIFICATION BAKU F1

Sunday Grill:

1.Charles Leclerc 1:40.203
2 Max Verstappen 1:40.391
3 Sergio Perez 1:40.495
4 Carlos Sainz 1:41.016
5 Lewis Hamilton 1:41.177
6 Fernando Alonso 1:41.253
7 Lando Norris 1:41.281
8 Yuki Tsunoda 1:41.581
9 Lance Stroll 1:41.611
10 Oscar Piastri 1:41.611
11 George Russell 1:41.654
12 Esteban Ocon 1:41.798
13 Alexander Albon 1:41.818
14 Valtteri Bottas 1:42.259
15 Logan Sargeant 1:42.395
16 Zhou Guanyu 1:42.642
17 Nico Hulkenberg 1:42.755
18 Kevin Magnussen 1:43.417
19 Pierre Gasly 1:44.853
20. Nyck DeVries 1:55.282

Sainz, tough day

while the other Ferrari, that of Carlos Sainz, he couldn’t ride comfortably throughout the qualifying session and it showed. He came into Q3 with a new set of soft tires for a pole that was still a long way off. He saved the day in fourth position, at 0″813, after a qualy in which he was not satisfied with the performance of the tires.

Alonso, 6th, no DRS

Aston Martin It is in the classification, its speed in a turn, one of its weak points, same as its top speed. The green team thought they could kill two birds with one stone with the arrival of their new low-load wing. The higher the speed, the better the result in ‘worthy’. But it’s not like that, at least because of the problem with DRS. This new wing already failed in Free Practice 1, when Alonso complained that the DRS did not open on the straight. And he failed again to classify the two green cars, which was harmful take a walk and alonsosomething that could cost them both a lot of time. Ferdinand he finished 6th, but could have a clear chance to finish better.

In a circuit with a 2.1-kilometer straight, where the lead is very important, despite the good performance of Aston Martin in the winding sector 2, when the DRS broke down, only working between turns 2 and 3 and causing him to lose more than 10 km/h on the straight, the most he could do Fernando Alonso it is the 6th place. He looks like he can fight for being at the back of the top 3, fighting Sainzor in fifth place, but hamiltonwith a Mercedes who struggled to get into Q2, finally managed to pass the man from Oviedo and grab the 5th position with the highest point in a straight line.

Alonso will start 6th on Sunday, behind Hamilton (5th) and Sainz (4th), ahead of Norris (7th), an impressive Tsunoda (8th) and Maglad (9th). Fernando’s goal is to achieve his fourth podium in four races. Things don’t look easy, but the green car has already shown that its strong point is its racing speed and good tire wear. In this aspect, his car is better than Ferrari, but it is necessary to see if it is also from Mercedes after the good performance of the stars in the race in Australia. It seems that the green car should be there for Fernando to choose that return.

The man from Oviedo has to attack, although with a big difference compared to previous races. In this weekend format, with few Free Practices (FP1), long run rhythms are unknown to everyone.

What is certain is that the excitement will continue throughout the weekend due to the difficulty of this track. This was seen in Q1, where there were up to two red flags in a matter of minutes. The first, due to an accident against the De Vries wall. The second, due to Gasly’s handling against the protections on a black day for the Frenchman after his Alpine caught fire in FP1.

Another sunless is George Russell eliminated without entering Q3Only 4 thousandths of a Hamilton came by a hair.

This Saturday, ‘qualy’ shoot-out and sprint race

Before thinking about Sunday, the riders have to compete for the sprint race this Saturday (3:30 pm), followed by another independent qualifying session (3:30 pm) that will determine the grid for the short sleeve of Saturday. At stake, the 8 victory points of this short race (7 to 2nd, 6 to 3… and so on to 1 point for 8th). This short sleeve will not change the starting grid on Sunday. It’s a race where the prize is points, with more to win than lose. Many will go on the attack. Emotions can be maximum.