Charles Leclerc rues ‘very strange’ Ferrari ‘problem’ at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Follow us on Google Discover

Charles Leclerc has rued the ‘very strange feeling’ that a new part caused the Ferrari driver at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after it left the Scuderia with a ‘problem’ in Baku.

Trips to the Caspian Sea have regularly given the Monegasque some success with Leclerc a pole position master on Baku’s streets. Ferrari watched the 26-year-old charge his Prancing Horse to P1 on the grid in 2021, 2022 and 2023. But he is still so far yet to win the race once.

Leclerc has also only stood on the podium at an Azerbaijan GP once after falling from pole to P3 in 2023. He made two trips to the rostrum that year after also finishing the F1 Sprint with second place. Ferrari and Leclerc will hope he improves his total in this year’s Azerbaijan GP.

Charles Leclerc’s FP1 crash did not cause Ferrari’s FP2 ‘problem’ at the Azerbaijan GP

Pace has not been a problem for Leclerc during practice for the 2024 Azerbaijan GP with the Ferrari star topping the timesheet in FP2 and ranking second in FP3. He posted a 1:43.484 to edge Sergio Perez by 0.006 seconds in FP2 and was just 0.013s from George Russell in FP3.

READ MORE: The most successful drivers at the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix of all time

But despite his chart-topping speed in second practice, the 60-minute session was not ideal for the seven-time Grand Prix winner. Leclerc started FP2 on the backfoot due to a problem with his SF-24, which saw the Ferrari driver describe his car as being ‘bent’ over their radio.

Leclerc stresses the issue was not connected to his crash in FP1 when the Monegasque took too much speed into Turn 15 and dug his Ferrari into the barriers nose first. Instead, he puts the ‘problem’ down to a part Ferrari fitted to Leclerc’s car ahead of FP2 at the Azerbaijan GP.

“When we started FP2, there was an actual problem with the car that we saw later on once I stopped,” Leclerc said, via RacingNews365. “We changed that particular part. It was nothing to do with the crash before, so the mechanics have done a really good job.

“We had a problem with one new part we put on the car. That was giving me a very strange feeling with the steering wheel. We changed that, went again and it was fine.”

Charles Leclerc’s recovery would encourage Ferrari given Carlos Sainz’s pace

Leclerc recovered and then some from the ‘problem’ which plagued the 25-time pole sitter in the opening phases of FP2 to see Ferrari end the first day of running at the Azerbaijan GP atop the timesheet. His confidence even carried over into Saturday to finish FP3 in second.

Ferrari and Leclerc will have also taken confidence in his pace improving once they changed the errant part. Had the 26-year-old continued to struggle after finishing FP1 in P9 following a crash, the Scuderia would have needed to dig into the data searching for a bigger problem.

Teammate Carlos Sainz was not able to fight at the top of the timesheet in either FP1 or FP2 on Friday. The Spaniard was fifth and fourth fastest across the two sessions but was 0.627s and 0.466s down on the best lap times. Sainz also ended FP3 in P6 and 0.454s off the pace.