Carlos Sainz will start fourth on Sunday and Fernando Alonso, sixth

MADRID, April 28 (EUROPEAN PRESS) –

Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) took pole for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the fourth round of the Formula 1 World Cup, in a new qualifying session on Friday in which Spaniards Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) secured the fourth and sixth starting positions respectively for Sunday.

With his spectacular performance in Baku, where he set an incredible 1:40.203 which earned him a tenth advantage over the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), Leclerc achieved his third consecutive pole position on the Azerbaijani urban track and the first of Ferrari in 2024, all after a fierce fight with ‘Mad Max’, who will accompany him in the front row.

Meanwhile, Mexican Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez (Red Bull) will command the second row of the grid with Sainz, who went from less to more on a Friday in which Alonso, who came to settle in the ‘top 3 ‘ of the first runs, he could only be sixth in the end to share a rank with the Briton Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), fifth.

As the drivers started on soft tyres, the fight began in Baku with Verstappen setting the first big benchmark time early, two tenths quicker than Leclerc. As Alonso moved up to third place and Sainz prepared for his second attempt, Dutchman Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri) crashed into the wall at Turn 3 and the red flag waved on the track.

Everything resumed a quarter of an hour later, but the action came to a halt again a few minutes later, when Frenchman Pierre Gasly (Alpine), who had previously changed the power unit, also hit the wall in the same turn as DeVries. Meanwhile, Sainz’s spin in 1 came to nothing.

After the break, Leclerc exceeded the time of “Mad Max” to say goodbye to Q1 at the top, in which Alonso remained third and the Madrilenian ninth. The Chinese Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), the German Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), the Dane Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Gasly and De Vries were eliminated.

The Spaniard opened Q2 provisionally in first place, although the Red Bulls quickly took over. Meanwhile, Sainz showed problems with his wheels when he let his teammate pass on the track, who still had time to slip between the two cars of the energetic brand team.

Sainz and Alonso closed the “top 5” before the final round, in which Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) narrowly missed and George Russell (Mercedes) fell against all odds.

The tension rose even more in an incredible Q3; Verstappen’s first attempt led to the fastest qualifying lap in Baku, a 1:40.445 which seconds later was nailed by Leclerc. The fact of having achieved it before offered the provisional pole position to the Dutchman.

However, the Monegasque threw away the rest and clocked a brutal 1:40.203 which earned him his third consecutive pole position at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Verstappen, Pérez, Sainz, Hamilton, Alonso, Briton Lando Norris (McLaren), Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), Canadian Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren) complete the “Top 10”.