Formula 1 has set up shop in Baku for the eighth time, and the high-speed walls of the 6.003 km Baku City Circuit are already looming large over the weekend narrative: Charles Leclerc’s one-lap supremacy versus the race-day muscle of McLaren and Red Bull.
Leclerc’s Baku calling card: four poles since 2021
Few venues suit Leclerc’s qualifying flair like Baku. The Ferrari driver has claimed four consecutive pole positions here since 2021, underlining a unique chemistry with the circuit’s blend of 90-degree blasts, a knife-edge castle section and the flat-out sprint along the Caspian.
But converting Saturdays into Sundays has proved elusive. Speaking to select media, including RacingNews365, Leclerc cautioned against expectation creep: "I still have this feeling… most of the time, we were not the favourites on paper, and then we ended up having pole. But that doesn’t mean we can win then on Sunday… that’s what we’ve been lacking in the past years."
Ferrari’s dilemma: qualifying sparkle vs race pace reality
Ferrari’s one-lap potency rarely translates into sustained stint control on the streets of Baku. Leclerc acknowledges the challenge: "I don’t have a big hope that this year is going to be significantly different. I think McLaren is going to be the strongest team alongside Red Bull, because in Monza, they definitely found something that seems to be working very well." Even so, he remains convinced Baku is one of the few remaining venues where an upset is possible.
McLaren and Red Bull: the benchmark
McLaren arrives as the form team on recent evidence, while Max Verstappen’s dominant win in Monza suggests Red Bull’s straight-line efficiency and tyre management will again be potent weapons. For Ferrari to challenge, it will need a perfect Saturday and a cleaner, more efficient Sunday — on strategy, safety car timing and tyre life.
Media day mood: city buzz, tight margins
Thursday’s media day set the tone: a charged paddock, evolving grip, and the usual Baku undercurrent that anything can happen. The narrow castle section and the mammoth main straight magnify tiny errors and reward nerveless commitment, making track position — and therefore qualifying — disproportionately important.
Key questions for the weekend
- Can Leclerc extend his pole streak and finally convert in race trim?
- Will McLaren’s Monza momentum carry over to a very different street challenge?
- Is Red Bull poised to reassert race-day control on strategic execution?
As ever in Baku, the margins are thin, the walls are close, and the payoff for perfection can be decisive. Ferrari’s path to victory remains narrow — but not closed.
