Leclerc grabs pole in Azerbaijan GP

Sports Desk, Jun 11 (EFE).- Monaco’s Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) claimed pole position Saturday in qualifying for the Formula One Grand Prix of Azerbaijan.

The 24-year-old made it around the Baku City Circuit in 1:41.359, nearly three-tenths of a second faster than Mexican driver Sergio “Checo” Perez (Red Bull), last year’s winner in Azerbaijan.

It was Leclerc’s fourth consecutive pole and his sixth in eight races.

Perez’s Dutch teammate, reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen, was third in Q3, more than a tenth of a second ahead of Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), who had provisional pole before the final lap.

Starting from P5 on Sunday will be Briton George Russell (Mercedes), joined on the third row by Frenchman Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri).

British seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) took seventh place and will share the fourth row on the grid with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda of Japan.

German driver Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), with four F1 titles to his credit, and Spain’s Fernando Alonso, who has won the driver championship twice, rounded out the top 10.

Verstappen currently leads the driver standings with 125 points, 9 better than Leclerc and 15 more than teammate Perez, but the Dutchman has finished only once in four races in Baku. EFE

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