Scuderia Ferrari achieved an incredible pole position with Charles Leclerc at the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan. The Maranello team succeeded in everything they did. Starting with the setup: the base setup developed back at the factory was already very good when the two cars hit the track on Friday afternoon. However, the chosen compromise had some shortcomings in slow corners because the SF-24’s grip at low speeds was not up to the mark. Nevertheless, Ferrari reacted brilliantly by adjusting the ride height worked, as it provided the necessary grip to improve the performance of the Italian car.
Additionally, it’s worth mentioning Ferrari’s handling of the Pirelli tires. The front-end activation was perfect. This was an important factor because Baku’s layout favored cooling of the tires, particularly at the front, creating a thermal imbalance between the two axles. This phenomenon, in turn, significantly lowers the performance of an F1 car. This is exactly what happened to Mercedes and, to a lesser extent, Red Bull. Without further ado, let’s now analyze the telemetry and note where Ferrari made the difference.
Let’s examine the comparison between the telemetry of Charles Leclerc’s pole lap and Oscar Piastri’s lap, who was 0.321 seconds behind after a Q3 session completely dominated by the Maranello team. The Monegasque driver put together the “perfect lap,” gaining on the Australian in every sector. In every single corner, except for Turn 3 (where he lifted off much earlier than car number 81) and Turn 15, Charles Leclerc carried more speed through the middle of the corner, managing the pedals optimally, as has been mentioned many times. In fact, he is the only driver on the grid who adopts a very particular driving style.
This refers to the so-called trailing (semi-open) throttle, allowing for a balanced weight distribution while cornering and immediately applying all the car’s power, keeping the engine revs slightly higher to improve traction on exit. This driving style also helps combat the oversteer that plagued Ferrari during all free practice sessions: when braking, the car’s weight shifts entirely to the front, lightening the rear.
Keeping the throttle semi-open allows for slightly loading the rear, resulting in better balance during the corner and on exit. Leclerc made a significant difference, particularly in Turn 16, where he showed superior performance compared to Oscar Piastri. Although both drivers braked at the same point in the corner, Charles Leclerc managed to accelerate earlier without suffering from the typical oversteer of this section of the track.
Nailing this corner on the Azerbaijan track is crucial not only in qualifying, as it significantly affects the 2200-meter long straight where drivers are flat-out for over 20 seconds, but also in the race, where a good exit from Turn 16 is fundamental for both defending and attacking. Ferrari focused on this detail with great care, thanks to the Monegasque driver, providing Charles Leclerc with an optimal setup for both the qualifying session and today’s race, where managing tire degradation will be key.
The Monegasque driver expressed his appreciation for the car, finding it comfortable from the start and only needing to make minor adjustments to the setup. The aerodynamic load used seems to be the right one: Ferrari opted for the same rear wing specification used at Spa, slightly less downforce than McLaren, which provides an increase in speed of about 3 kilometers per hour on the main straight and every acceleration zone. This could prove crucial for defense in the race, in addition to Charles Leclerc’s excellent tire management in recent races.
The opposite happened at Red Bull, who, from the first free practice sessions, seemed to struggle in the last sector. On Friday, this was mainly due to the fact that the Honda engine was significantly underpowered, but by FP3 it was clear that something was wrong in Turn 16, where Max was losing 0.200s to the Monegasque driver. As the Dutchman himself said in post-qualifying interviews, between the final free practice session and qualifying, they tried to make some changes to the car’s setup, probably adjusting the ride height, which only further unbalanced the car.
The Dutch driver even complained about bouncing under braking in certain parts of the track. Based on data relating to the G-force stats, we can observe that Red Bull struggled a lot under braking, unlike Ferrari, where Charles Leclerc is always able to brake a few meters later and generate more force in deceleration. Despite everything, Red Bull continues to be very competitive in traction, being once again, as seen in FP2 and FP3, the team that can keep the throttle fully open for the longest time throughout the lap (an excellent indicator of how competitive the car is in terms of traction).
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