While the world may be awaiting a Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc dual, yesterday a magical moment made the fast world of F1 stand still. Before they made their final runs for the pole, the duo were tied as pole contenders to the thousandth millisecond. It was evident that Ferrari had brought the fight back to Milton Keynes. The narrow streets with narrow chances saw Ferrari edging out Max in qualifying. And someone who has already packed his bags to leave Maranello has declared his belief in Charles’ magic despite all the predictions in Max’s favor.
Charles has not had the best of luck in Baku in terms of race, but has the best quali record. The pole he bagged yesterday was his third consecutive one in the medieval streets. But as the previous two haven’t seen any conversion, the reigning champion in his blazing-fast Red Bull is being touted to win. However, Ferrari racing director Laurent Mekies, who is set to join AlphaTauri, is a Charles fanboy.
As quoted by Motorsports Italy, “It is a great pole for the team. Charles, yes, he is very special here [in Baku], he has something extra. He’s already very strong in qualifying, but we have to pay tribute to the fact that he has something extra in Baku. In the last two years, he has been in pole position. But the reality is that it was also positive to have both cars battling for the top four positions.”
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And while the world feels a bit balanced as Leclerc seems to be back and confident. But what exactly happened?
Charles Leclerc shock pole explained by Ferrari insider
“Really a good surprise,” stated a shocked Charles Leclerc who, after the sluggish run and only 6 points, wasn’t expecting anything out of his scarlet machine. But how did he manage to get the pole? Laurent explains.
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I’d be lying if I said that here we expected to fight for pole position. But I think it’s true that, as Fred [Vasseur] explained after Melbourne, we had the feeling that in Melbourne the car was in a different window, giving us performance, especially at low speed.
He further added, “There are a lot more low-speed corners here, so somehow we had some confirmation today. I repeat, it’s only Friday. We need to see what the race pace will be tomorrow and on Sunday.”
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Do you think Leclerc can hold off the Red Bull threat that is set to breathe down his neck?