Ferrari chief Mekies: 'Leclerc is special here'

"It's a great pole for the team and Charles," Mekies stated in an initial comment to Sky Sports. The top man is impressed with the Monaco-based driver. "Yes, he [Charles] is special here. He is already super strong in qualifying, but here in Baku he has something even more. He has been on pole here for several years." Leclerc was also on pole at the Baku City Circuit in 2021 and 2022.

Finally, Ferrari was more competitive again and could seriously compete for first place. "It has bbeen a llot of hard work since the last race, and we felt we had seen some positive sings in Melbourne even if we came home with zero points. The truth is that you only get the answer to that on a Sunday regarding the compromises you have taken."

Only 60 minutes of practice was scheduled for all teams on Friday. So time was very limited to find the right set-up. "It's fair to say that you have zero time in race trim. It put more emphasis on preparation. The main focus for us is trying to find more race pace, and ironically it goes away from the focus with DRS which has more weight in qualifying. The priority is to get the race pace sorted."