Charles had worked hard to build confidence with the SF-25
Charles Leclerc has always enjoyed a strong connection with the streets of Baku. Ever since his junior days in Formula 2, he showed a natural ability to adapt to this demanding layout. Perhaps the many walls around the circuit remind him of the narrow streets of Monte Carlo, or maybe his fine touch on the steering wheel allows him to excel under these tricky conditions. Whatever the reason, Baku has usually brought out the best in him.
This was underlined by his remarkable run of four consecutive pole positions at this venue in recent years. Many thought that streak could continue in 2025. Instead, the brutal crash served as a harsh reality check. Compared to his teammate Lewis Hamilton, the lead-up to qualifying had been different: Hamilton appeared smoother and cleaner in the free practice sessions, while Leclerc remained aggressive behind the wheel, in his usual style inherited from his time at Alfa Romeo.
Once again, though, when it came to qualifying Charles Leclerc pushed his Ferrari to the limit. Unlike Lewis Hamilton, who was eliminated in Q2, the Monegasque did manage to reach Q3. However, his session was not free of errors. He ran wide several times, which forced him to return to the garage and use a second set of Pirelli medium tyres marked with yellow sidewalls. Unlike Hamilton, he was at least able to run them without particular issues during that phase.
At the decisive moment, even though the track conditions were not ideal and light rain was approaching, the car seemed stable enough. Then suddenly, the front axle lost grip, the SF-25 slid and hit the barriers. The mistake relegated him to tenth place in what turned out to be a chaotic Q3, further highlighted by the double crash suffered by the two McLaren drivers.
No connection with the mediums for Charles
Speaking to television cameras afterwards, Charles Leclerc did not hide his disappointment. As usual, he was quick to take full responsibility for the error that had ruled him out of the pole position battle. The Ferrari driver made one thing clear: he did not want to use the rain or slippery track surface as an excuse. That is not his style, and he stressed firmly that the crash was entirely his fault.
Even though the rest of the grid, with the exception of Lewis Hamilton, had chosen the same tyre compound for their first Q3 run, Charles was convinced that the Pirelli C5 medium was not the right option under those conditions. “I think the medium just was not working today,” he said, unafraid of contradicting the team’s strategy. He went on to explain how difficult it had been to bring the tyres into the correct operating window.
This meant that while Lewis Hamilton had been struggling to extract performance from the softs, Charles Leclerc could not make the mediums work at all. Even though Hamilton had looked strong on that compound during the free practice sessions, the Monegasque driver insisted that on Saturday he never found the right reference points. He underlined bluntly that Ferrari had failed to switch the tyres on properly, despite trying multiple warm-up approaches.
For that reason, he was convinced that the soft compound would have offered him more grip and stability in Q3. Looking ahead to Sunday, Charles Leclerc set his sights on recovery. He mentioned Daniel Ricciardo’s memorable comeback drive in 2017 as inspiration, hoping to pull off something similar. Still, he remained realistic about the challenge ahead. Both McLaren and Red Bull, with Max Verstappen starting from pole, are expected to be very competitive. Leclerc knows there will be no easy miracles, but his target is to fight his way back into contention for a podium or even a surprise shot at victory.
Leave a Reply