Ferrari’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend has started on a difficult note, with Charles Leclerc admitting that the SF-26 lacked pace during Thursday’s practice running in Baku. The Monegasque driver finished FP2 more than a second behind George Russell’s benchmark Mercedes and believes Ferrari has significant work ahead if it is to close the gap before qualifying.
It was not a disastrous opening day for the Maranello team, but the performance was hardly encouraging either. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished both practice sessions just outside the virtual podium positions, while the afternoon running suggested that Ferrari still has ground to recover against Mercedes despite the usual uncertainties surrounding fuel loads, engine modes and individual run plans.
Ferrari starts Baku weekend off the Mercedes pace
The unusual Azerbaijan Grand Prix timetable means Formula 1 completed its first two practice sessions on Thursday rather than Friday, but Ferrari did not produce the type of opening-day performance that has sometimes raised expectations earlier in the season.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton remained outside the top three in both sessions around the Baku City Circuit. In FP2, which was stopped exactly halfway through following Arvid Lindblad’s Racing Bulls accident in the Castle section, the two Ferraris ended the session with a sizeable deficit to the leading pace.
The result fits with the technical picture that emerged during the afternoon, when the SF-26 showed improved balance but continued to struggle with a narrow setup window. Even when the car became more manageable, Ferrari was still unable to recover enough performance against its main rivals.
Charles Leclerc more than a second behind George Russell
Charles Leclerc finished fourth in FP2, but the headline position hid a much less encouraging gap to George Russell. The Ferrari driver was more than one second slower than the Mercedes benchmark, a difference that also appeared during the high-fuel race simulations.
George Russell remained out of reach during those longer runs as well, not only for Ferrari but for the rest of the field. Andrea Kimi Antonelli was also unable to match the pace of his Mercedes team-mate, although the Italian driver had the mitigating factor of a technical problem that cost him almost a session and a half of running.
The FP2 classification therefore offered only part of the picture. Charles Leclerc’s fourth place and Lewis Hamilton’s position immediately behind him looked respectable on paper, but the gap to Mercedes in Baku FP2 was the more significant concern as Ferrari began preparing for qualifying.
Charles Leclerc says Ferrari has ‘a lot of work to do’
Charles Leclerc acknowledged after practice that Ferrari had simply been missing pace during the opening day and said the team would need to work through the collected data in an attempt to make a meaningful step forward.
“We were lacking a bit of pace in today’s practice sessions, so we will have quite a lot of work to do this evening to try to reduce the gap,” Charles Leclerc said. “We will analyse all the data we collected and work to make a step forward ahead of tomorrow.”
The Monegasque driver nevertheless remains enthusiastic about the challenge of qualifying around Baku’s demanding street circuit.
“Hopefully we can be more competitive in qualifying tomorrow, especially because I really enjoy driving on this track.”
Ferrari’s long-run behaviour will also be important when assessing how much of the Thursday deficit can be recovered. The developing pace trends can be followed through the F1 Practice & Long-Run Analysis, which provides a broader comparison of practice stints and race simulations.
Charles Leclerc power unit decision remains unclear
Another unresolved question concerns Charles Leclerc’s power unit programme. It is not yet clear whether the Ferrari driver has already used the ADUO-2 unit involved in his Monza accident, nor whether the team will decide at the beginning of FP3 to install a new engine and accept a grid penalty.
The subject is particularly important at Baku because the circuit places major demands on power delivery and energy management, especially along its long acceleration zones. Ferrari had already identified the weekend as a significant test of the SF-26’s power unit and energy deployment.
For now, the immediate priority is performance. Charles Leclerc’s assessment was straightforward: Ferrari did not have enough pace on Thursday, and the team must use the overnight analysis to reduce the deficit before qualifying. The positions themselves were not disastrous, but the gap to Mercedes made clear that a substantial step is required if the Scuderia is to become genuinely competitive at the sharp end in Baku.
Leave a Reply