F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2024 Qualifying Review: Charles Leclerc locks in another Baku Pole

Ferrari looking to make it back-to-back wins

Coming off the Italian Grand Prix win, Charles Leclerc continued to impress as he looked to get his championship title back on track following another solid Saturday from the Ferrari man, who picked up the pole position in Baku.

While Leclerc continued to build on his recent strong form, championship contender Lando Norris continued to drop the ball as he and his McLaren crew miscalculated to have the young Brit get knocked out in Q1. 

Here’s a quick recap of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2024 qualifying. 

Q1 – Lando Norris bottles it

Azerbaijan Grand Prix’s most successful driver Sergio Pérez set the benchmark, going 1:43.4s in his first run, which was a tenth quicker than F2 table topper Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari man quickly went almost half a second quicker than Pérez before FP3 topper George Russell put in a strong lap to pip the Mexican for the second place. 

As the chequered flag fell, it was a brawl as most of the cars were looking to escape the drop zone, and the biggest shock was championship contender Lando Norris failing to get out of Q1. The VCARB of Daniel Ricciardo, a previous winner at Baku, also was eliminated in Q1 as were both the Saubers and Esteban Ocon.

Drivers eliminated in Q1

Daniel Ricciardo
Lando Norris
Valtteri Bottas
Esteban Ocon
Zhou Guanyu*

Q2 – Bearman misses out on maiden Q3

While McLaren had one driver eliminated in Q1, his teammate, Oscar Piastri put in the benchmark lap in Q2 with a 1:42.5s but was quickly displaced at the top by Max Verstappen, who went even quicker with a 1:42s. While Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes, it was the rookie Oliver Bearman, who was standing in for Kevin Magnussen this weekend missing out as did Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly, Bearman’s teammate Nico Hülkenberg and the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll.

Drivers eliminated in Q2

Oliver Bearman
Yuki Tsunoda
Pierre Gasly
Nico Hülkenberg
Lance Stroll

Q3 – Leclerc keeps Ferrari on top

It was a Ferrari 1-2 led by Leclerc after the first flying laps with Piastri two-tenths behind Sainz. Verstappen was more than half a second down to Leclerc after the first laps while  Sergio Pérez was above the Dutchman in fifth.

As the cars put in their final laps, it was Leclerc, who went quicker to take pole with 1:41.3s while Piastri pipped Sainz for a front row start while the two Red Bulls started fourth and sixth with Sergio Pérez being the lead Red Bull. The final moments of Q3 also saw a bizarre incident as Williams forgot to detach the airbox from Alex Albon’s car, which he went on to the track with and had to stop on track and it eventually hampered his final lap, which he couldn’t get in.

Leclerc’s pole also meant it was for four years in a row that the Ferrari driver had taken pole in Baku, although he or Ferrari are yet to win in Baku.

Starting Grid for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2024 (before any penalties)

1. Charles Leclerc
2. Oscar Piastri
3. Carlos Sainz
4. Sergio Pérez
5. George Russell
6. Max Verstappen
7. Lewis Hamilton
8. Fernando Alonso
9. Franco Colapinto
10. Alex Albon
11. Oliver Bearman
12. Yuki Tsunoda
13. Pierre Gasly
14. Nico Hülkenberg
15. Lance Stroll
16. Daniel Ricciardo
17. Lando Norris
18. Valtteri Bottas
19. Esteban Ocon
20. Zhou Guanyu*

*Zhou has been handed a penalty which will see him start from the back of the grid due to Power Unit changes during practice sessions