Charles Leclerc is banking on Ferrari's race pace to help him challenge for victory in tomorrow's Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Monegasque took a surprising second place on the grid in Baku, despite the Scuderia looking off the pace in free practice.
Baku's long straights were expected to expose the SF-26's weakness in straight-line speed, a recurring issue on fast circuits this season. But Leclerc found extra speed from tows to secure a front-row spot, albeit eight tenths adrift of George Russell.
Speaking after qualifying, Leclerc admitted the deficit to Russell did not bode well. "Well, I felt hooked up as well, but maybe not to the right hook when I see the gap with George," he said. "It's quite a significant gap. The car felt better than earlier in the weekend, but we've had our struggles."
He highlighted Sector 2 as a particular weakness. "Our weakness normally is straight-line speed, but today Sector 2 is also where George made the difference," Leclerc added.
Leclerc lamented the Ferrari's unpredictability, which prevented him from attacking the Baku City Circuit's walls. "Normally, I feel like one of my strengths coming here is being very precise and taking a lot of risk with the distance to the wall. This weekend I just couldn't do that because the car was not exactly reacting the way I wanted," he explained.
Nevertheless, Leclerc remains hopeful for the race. "We'll try, and we'll do our best. We know that we have a good race car, more often than not better in the race than in qualifying, and I hope that it will be the case again this weekend," he concluded.
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