Karun Chandhok highlights how close Charles Leclerc could ‘suddenly’ get to Lando Norris after Baku

Follow us on Google Discover

Charles Leclerc took a dominant pole position for Ferrari at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The Monegasque driver finished three-tenths ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in second with his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz in third. The result marks Leclerc’s third pole of the season and his fourth in a row at the Baku street circuit.

Leclerc converted his first pole of the year at his home race in Monaco to victory, but could not do the same in Spa as he finished fourth but was later promoted to third after George Russell was disqualified from the race.

Leclerc had suffered a challenging start to the weekend after a crash in FP1. Jacques Villeneuve mocked Leclerc for the accident, labelling it as a rookie mistake as he buried his car into the barriers.

But on Saturday, Leclerc’s struggles were passed on to his rivals as he took pole. Max Verstappen was out-qualified by Sergio Perez for the first time this season as he could only manage sixth.

Charles Leclerc could ‘suddenly’ get close to Lando Norris in the championship after Baku

Speaking on Sky Sports F1 shortly after qualifying, Karun Chandhok highlighted how close it could now get between Leclerc and Lando Norris after the latter’s disaster in the session.

Norris had to abort his flying lap due to a yellow flag caused by Esteban Ocon hitting the wall, leaving the McLaren down in 17th and eliminated from Q1.

Leclerc is third in the standings going into the race, 24 points behind Norris and 86 behind leader Verstappen. With Leclerc first and Norris out of the points for the start, if it stays like that, the Ferrari will surpass the McLaren by a small margin into second and close the gap to the Red Bull.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

And Chandhok was quick to point this out as he realised how ‘suddenly’ Leclerc could throw himself into the mix with Norris in the championship.

He said: “86 points behind Verstappen, but 24 behind Norris who is starting obviously way down.

“Tell you what, if Leclerc wins and Norris doesn’t get a heap of points, it suddenly becomes pretty close between Leclerc and Norris in the championship.”

Charles Leclerc has a great opportunity to close the gap in Baku

Ferrari have proven their ability around Baku this weekend, with the straight-line speed to defend from potential attacks and some solid performance in the slow and tight corners.

Piastri will likely not be affected by McLaren’s team order that they are looking to implement to get Norris the title, due to the Brit starting way down the order.

The Aussie has also proven his speed and ability around this track and will prove to be a nuisance for the Ferraris as they hope to keep their championship hopes alive.

The Maranello squad are just 39 points behind Red Bull in the constructors’ championship and they have a great opportunity to close that gap further as they look to have the edge over the defending champions at Baku.