Charles Leclerc secures Azerbaijan GP pole hat-trick as Ferrari break Red Bull qualifying streak

Ferrari and Charles Leclerc scored their first pole position of the 2023 F1 campaign in Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

So far, Red Bull were the only team to have a pole position but that streak has now been broken after Leclerc was 0.188 seconds quicker than Max Verstappen in second.

Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez was third, with the remaining Ferrari of Carlos Sainz in fourth.

Former world champion Lewis Hamilton was fifth with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso alongside him in sixth.

Hamilton said: “Timing and getting into the rhythm is not easy on this track. In Q2, I struggled. Q3 run one was a really sweet lap. Just matched it on the second run, needed a little more time to get ahead of the Ferrari.”

It was another disappointing session overall for Mercedes, with George Russell in 11th after failing to get out of Q2.

The pole position marks a hat-trick for Leclerc, and is the third consecutive time the Monegasque has proved quickest in Baku.

Leclerc said after the session: “For sure I’m surprised. We came into the weekend thinking it would be a great weekend if we are in front of Mercedes and Aston in qualifying and in the end we are on pole. I was very happy with the lap.

“We must not forget our race car is still behind the Red Bulls so it will be difficult to keep the lead but that is the target.”

Asked whether this was his best pole in Baku, he said: “I feel like whenever you have the excitement of pole you want to say: ‘Yes.’ I feel like 2021 it was even more of a surprise but it was definitely a really good lap.”

Verstappen clipped the wall on his final lap at the second turn and reflected later: “It is always tough to put a lap together and on the second run we tried something different on the out lap which I think didn’t help.

“But we know we have a very good race car so all in all it is not bad.”

Saturday will see a qualifying session for the sprint race, which will take place later that day. New regulations set earlier this week have instituted two separate qualifying events for the two races.