The Azerbaijan Grand Prix’s Saturday qualifying session did not fall short of expectation, as the Baku Street Circuit lay host to multiple red flags that led to disruption – and some drivers qualifying higher, or lower, than expected.
Oscar Piastri’s crash that delayed Q3 temporarily was one of the headlines, but impressive results from Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson were displays that will have made both the Williams and Racing Bulls happy.
For the Ferrari team, though, it was a day to forget.
Charles Leclerc admits that car performance has been ‘very, very difficult’
After a strong performance in Friday’s practice sessions for Ferrari,which saw Hamilton place top in Practice Session 2 and Leclerc second, Saturday was much more underwhelming.
The veteran Hamilton could only manage P12 on the day, finishing three tenths out of getting through to Q3, while a crash early on in the final session meant that Leclerc could only manage P10.
The Monegasque driver spoke to Sky Sports F1 after his crash, saying that recent form had been playing on his mind before Baku:
“I’ve been struggling massively. Normally I come to Baku and everything flows naturally but this year, unfortunately, it wasn’t the case. I kind of think I understood why and then in qualifying I changed the car and lot and changed the feeling, and the feeling was getting better until we actually put the medium tires and then everything went.”
Leclerc also admitted that things could turn around on race day, stating:
“There is opportunity but it’s going to be tough to come back in the front. Normally it has been the other way around whenever I came here so I’m looking forward to turn the situation around.”
How has Leclerc performed in qualifying this season?
Charles Leclerc has not managed a pole in the entire 2025 season, with his best performances on Saturday coming at his home Grand Prix in Monaco, Bahrain, and Austria – qualifying second on all occasions.
While he has not started from the front on Sunday, the 27-year-old has been consistent and has only not gone through to Q3 on one occasion, in Imola at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
This is a stark contrast to teammate Hamilton, who has a best qualifying performance of fifth for the year, while the Briton has failed to advance to Q3 on five seperate occasions.
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