Poleman Leclerc misses the podium in Azerbaijan
Despite a very promising qualification, Charles Leclerc did not manage to materialize his pole position on Sunday. He finished in 4th place, just behind Pierre Gasly!
Starting from pole position, Leclerc could be proud of a well-executed Saturday. Taking advantage of the pace in qualifying of his Ferrari, the Monegasque unfortunately struggled more in the race against cars like Red Bull, the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, or Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri.
Undercut missed
Seeing that his pace was not good enough to fight with the leaders, Scuderia Ferrari decided to pit their leading driver on the 7th lap, with the aim of performing the undercut on their rivals. Unfortunately for the Monegasque driver, the best strategy was actually to keep pushing with the soft tires for longer. This strategic gamble cost Charles Leclerc the 4th position against his childhood friend Gasly.
Later in the race, the Monegasque took advantage of the accidents of Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen to find himself back at the front.
During the second restart after the red flag, Leclerc put a lot of pressure on Gasly, but the Normand managed to hold his position. A little battle that allowed Lando Norris to catch up with the two men. With the McLaren engaging in a duel with the Ferrari, Gasly pulls away and secures the podium.
« The end was my favorite part of the race. It was moving, there was action. It was really intense with Pierre. I am happy for him for the podium and the same for Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez. »
« The end was my favorite part of the race. It was dynamic, there was action. »
On the rest of the race, we were very surprised by Aston Martin. They were very, very fast but it remains disappointing because starting from pole position we expected better.
Great deals for Leclerc and Ferrari among the constructors
In the end, these are still very important new points for Charles Leclerc, who thus overtakes Valtteri Bottas in the drivers’ championship. Very important by the way, the points of the Monegasque allow Ferrari to take the 3rd position in the constructors’ standings against McLaren!
