F1 Azerbaijan GP qualifying analysis: Charles Leclerc beats rivals in Ferrari's most problematic sector

09/14/2024 05:27 PM

In the qualifying session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc secured his fourth consecutive pole position at the Baku City circuit. Since 2021, he has been the prince of Baku, at least on Saturdays, as the story has always changed on Sundays so far. Due to an error in the morning, Charles Leclerc wasn't able to test the race pace of his SF-24 during the second free practice session. Based on the work done by Carlos Sainz, we could expect good competitiveness, but for the reasons mentioned yesterday, namely the data collected from Friday’s race pace, we don't exactly know what to expect from the others.

Oscar Piastri was very consistent, and Sergio Perez, who will start from P4, didn't perform badly either. The long straights should allow for overtaking, although we believe the race will mostly come down to strategy and the drivers' resilience. It won't be easy to keep a cool head for all 51 laps.

For Lando Norris, who was eliminated in Q1 due to a yellow flag at the wrong time, it will be tough to climb back up from the bottom of the grid. Overtaking is possible in Baku, but certainly not easy, especially if one ends up stuck in a DRS train.

Charles Leclerc beats rivals in the most unexpected sector
After dragging you through this preamble, let's focus on the actual topic: where did Charles Leclerc make the difference? A three-tenths gap over the second-fastest driver is certainly unexpected. Let's try to understand where it comes from.

Ferrari had shown from the first free practice session that it could be a contender in qualifying, and throughout the weekend, up until Q2, it was the fastest car in the first sector. The trend was more or less this: SF-24 was the best in the first sector, Red Bull was clearly superior in S2, and S3 was a battle between Mercedes and Aston Martin. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, but especially the Monegasque driver, were very fast in the first sector, but then lost about a tenth to the Max Verstappen – Sergio Perez duo in the second sector and struggled in the final part.

This might have been due, as suggested by the 'Sky Sport F1' journalists, to the fact that Ferrari's engineers had chosen a setup that took better advantage of the long straights, sacrificing the middle part of the track. However, this explanation didn't fully convince us. Just think about Monaco, a track where Charles Leclerc won this year. Why sacrifice Ferrari's strength in slow corners, one of the few strong points of the SF-24 this year? Something didn't add up.

And it still doesn't add up, because if we look at the best sectors recorded at the end of Q3, we notice a significant reversal of trends. At the end of qualifying, Sergio Perez was the fastest in the first sector, clocking 35.649 (Charles 35.702, Piastri 35.782). The Monegasque driver made a huge difference in the second sector, posting a 40.813, while Oscar Piastri, the second fastest, did 40.972. Sergio Perez stopped at 41.043, and Carlos Sainz at 41.138, confirming he hadn't changed anything between Q2 and Q3. The third sector went to Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin with 24.524, with Charles Leclerc posting a 24.825, Oscar Piastri 24.803 and Sergio Perez 24.966.

With setups locked for the entire session, what could explain this change? In our opinion, Charles Leclerc may have adjusted something in tire management during his fast lap in Q3. The Monegasque may have decided to sacrifice the first sector to have more grip in the central part and towards the end of the lap in the final sector. Red Bull, on the other hand, took the opposite approach, being more competitive at the start and less so in the final stretch. Whatever Charles managed to do, it allowed him to beat his rivals in the most unexpected sector, S2, which had been Red Bull's strength up until Q3.

Charles Leclerc also managed to make the most of the track evolution, showing much more balanced performance across the sectors compared to the other drivers from the top four teams.

Note on the circuit

The track was dirtier than in previous years because, unlike past editions, it wasn't properly cleaned before the arrival of F1. This caused lap times to be noticeably slower compared to 2023 (about 1.1 seconds slower), when Charles Leclerc secured pole with a 1’40.203. However, it should also be noted that the race took place in spring last year, between April 28 and 30.

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