Charles Leclerc has sensationally clinched pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after beating both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in Red Bull.
π£π£π£π£π£π£π£π£π£π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’ππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππ! π±
ITβS POLE POSITION FOR @Charles_Leclerc π#AzerbaijanGP π¦πΏ pic.twitter.com/eQmWjPN8KM
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) April 28, 2023
The Monegasque clocked a time of 1:40.203 and it was enough to see him finish first after Verstappen could only manage 1:40:391, nearly two tenths adrift.
Perez finished the session a further tenth back in third, while Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz was 4th, underlining the huge progress Ferrari has made over the past 4 weeks. Lewis Hamilton rounded off the top 5 with a solid performance after the Mercedes seemed to be struggling – his teammate George Russel could only manage 11th.
The Aston Martins had an unimpressive runs, as Alonso finished behind Hamilton in 6th, while Lance Stroll could only manage 9th.
With the new Sprint regulation in order, tomorrow’s event will not affect the race and the order for Sunday will be based on today’s performances. Teams have limited time for preparation and this being only Friday, we could potentially see a major leap in performances over the next two days.