Leclerc: I’ve been struggling massively

A four-time pole starter here in Baku, Leclerc admitted he struggled on Saturday and as a result, will park his Ferrari P10 on the grid for Sunday's race, after a session marked by six Red Flags and changing conditions caught out several drivers.

Ferrari’s weekend unravelled as Lewis Hamilton could do no better than 12th, leaving the team to reflect on what might have been. Leclerc admitted he never felt comfortable in the car, despite usually excelling on the streets of Baku.

Speaking to Sky F1 after the session, Leclerc was candid about his struggles: “Especially for me. I think Lewis was a lot more on the pace straight away and more consistent than I’ve been during the weekend. I’ve been struggling massively. Normally I come to Baku and everything flows naturally but this year, unfortunately, it wasn’t the case.”

Leclerc explained that Ferrari’s setup changes in qualifying initially improved his confidence, only for the switch to medium tyres in Q3 to destabilise the car: “I kind of think I understood why and then in qualifying I changed the car a lot and changed the feeling, and the feeling was getting better until we actually put the medium tyres and then everything went."

"It was very, very difficult from the moment we put the medium tyre. For some reason yesterday, it felt the better tyre on our car, it never felt we could never reach the right window of the tyre and that made it very tricky," lamented Leclerc.

His crash compounded a miserable session for Ferrari, who had hoped to feature in the fight for pole. With Max Verstappen starting from pole, their former driver Carlos Sainz in P2 for Williams, and Liam Lawson P3 for Racing Bulls, Leclerc now faces a recovery mission.

Despite the setback, Leclerc remains determined to salvage points: “There is an opportunity but it’s going to be tough to come back in the front. But there is opportunity and I will obviously look forward and try to have a great Sunday with a disappointing Saturday. Normally it has been the other way around whenever I came here so I’m looking forward to turn the situation around.”

Leclerc will need strategy, safety cars and speed to climb back through the order, but with overtaking opportunities down Baku’s long straights, Ferrari still have a chance to recover from their most disappointing qualifying of the season.