Charles Leclerc believes Ferrari has made gains in qualifying and race trim after he claimed pole for the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

It is Leclerc’s third successive pole in Baku, and 19th of his career and comes at an important time for the Scuderia.

“It was a really, really good one,” he said of the lap.

“Whether it was the best or not, I don’t know. I remember in ’21 here, it was also a pretty good lap, and I think it was even more of a surprise.

“But it was definitely a really, really good lap.”

Leclerc has endured a difficult start to 2023, with two retirements from the opening three races.

One was a result of a racing incident (Australia), and another was due to reliability issues with his Ferrari (Bahrain).

The Scuderia has had strong single-lap pace throughout the year but has struggled to translate that into race pace.

This weekend it has the equal fewest number of upgrades of any team; a  revised rear wing is the only change to the car which raced in Australia.

Red Bull has five new components this weekend, with much of the field introducing a similar number.

Ferrari has made progress regardless, building on the momentum gained in Melbourne.

“I think there’s been a good step in terms of set-up,” he said.

“Qualifying, since the beginning of the season, hasn’t been that bad.

“I think in Australia we didn’t do a great job; I think I did not drive well. Before that, we weren’t that far off.

“So I think we gained a little bit in qualifying. I expect the gain to be more in the race, but we were also much further behind in the race.

“But I think it’s [the progress] mostly set-up.”

Those gains began to become evident in Australia, though masked by Leclerc’s curtailed afternoon.

“One thing’s for sure is that I think we did a step forward in Australia,” he explained.

“On my side obviously couldn’t show it but on Carlos’ side, I think the feeling was much better during the race.

“How much better? We still need to see on Sunday.

“I think on that we still have some question marks but I am absolutely sure that we did some steps in the right direction.”

Leclerc will be joined on the front row by Max Verstappen for Sunday’s race.

He faces another qualifying session tomorrow, with the Sprint Shootout welcoming drivers back on track at 12:30 local time (18:30 AEST) ahead of the F1 Sprint itself later in the day.

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