Charles Leclerc explains rollercoaster start to Azerbaijan GP weekend after FP1 crash and peculiar FP2 problem

Charles Leclerc experienced an up-and-down first day on the streets of Baku as the Ferrari driver overcame a crash during first practice and car troubles in the second session to finish at the top of Friday’s timesheets.

Leclerc, who has claimed pole position on the last three visits to Azerbaijan, was showing some encouraging early pace in FP1 when he locked up under braking for Turn 15, slid straight on and struck the barriers.

FP2: Leclerc leads Perez and Hamilton during second practice in Azerbaijan

While Ferrari managed to complete repairs in time for FP2, the Monegasque reported over the radio at the start of the session that “the car is bent somewhere” and “it’s impossible” the team could not see anything on the data.

After returning to the pits, Ferrari replaced a faulty part and, thanks to a late run on the soft compound tyre, Leclerc ended the day with the fastest time – 0.006s ahead of Red Bull rival Sergio Perez.

Asked to talk through his day, Leclerc began: “I mean, the crash, there’s not much to go into. I braked a little bit too much on the right, the track was still dirty, I locked up and it was too late to go to the right [run-off] – so I went into the wall.

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN - SEPTEMBER 13: Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving the (16) Ferrari SF-24 on track — Leclerc bounced back from his FP1 crash to set the pace in FP2, but the session was not without its issues

“That wasn’t great to start the weekend, but I still had a lot of confidence in the car, so there wasn’t much problem. Then the thing is that when we started FP2 there was an actual problem on the car that we saw later on, once I stopped, and we changed that particular part.

“It was nothing to do with the crash before, so the mechanics have done a really good job. We just had a problem with one new part that we had just put on the car. I won’t go too much into details but that was obviously giving me a very strange feeling with the steering wheel.

AS IT HAPPENED: Follow all the action from second practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

“We changed that, went again and then it was fine. It was not as many laps as what I would have hoped for on this Friday, but competitive anyway.”

Assessing his chances for the weekend ahead, with that pole run in mind, Lecerc added: “It’s very tight [at the front], but it’s very difficult to see also with different engine modes of everybody. It’s one of the tracks that I quite like and we’ve been pretty quick in the past, but that doesn’t mean it will be the case for tomorrow.

“We still have to work on the car, there’s plenty to do to improve. There’s the driving to be improved quite a bit, because I was still taking a little bit my references in FP2, but again, we are fast, so that’s a good sign. Hopefully just more to come tomorrow.”

2024 Azerbaijan GP FP2: Concerned Leclerc pits and insists ‘I’m not driving this car anymore’

On the other side of the Ferrari garage, Carlos Sainz wound up fourth, just under half a second off the pace set by team mate Leclerc, as he explained some problems of his own behind the wheel.

“We had a few offs, but I think everyone did, the track was so tricky to drive, so dirty, so slippery,” he commented. “[Being] five seconds slower than last year gives you the data, that you know how much we were all struggling out there.

“We kept it more or less clean, did the whole run plan. We went through some issues with the brakes in FP1 and managed to make it better for FP2. I’m not feeling 100% with my neck, also. I think I slept really badly last night and I cannot move almost. I managed to make it through the day and [I’ll be] ready for tomorrow.”

As for where he thinks Ferrari sit in the pecking order this weekend, the Spaniard said: “I think now it is very difficult to tell as no one put good laps together. I think tomorrow when everyone starts putting softs on in Q1, Q2, Q3, we will see where everyone stands.

“We are confident we are on the pace together with the Red Bulls, the McLarens and the Mercs. I think it is going to be extremely tight and it is all about tyre preparation, putting the lap together, being at the right time the right place on track with the yellow flags, the red flags, and hopefully we are with the right side of things.”