If Charles Leclerc had transformed all of his pole positions into victories in 2022, we might be speaking about him because the clear favorite for the title.

In eight qualifying periods this yr, he has been quickest in six (together with on Saturday in Baku), whereas he has taken second place within the different two (behind Sergio Perez in Saudi Arabia and Max Verstappen at Imola).

After all, the actual fact Leclerc’s Ferrari is so quick over one lap however extra evenly matched with the Crimson Bulls within the race is without doubt one of the causes this yr’s world championship is so open and thrilling. Ferrari’s remedy of its tyres means it may possibly simply get them as much as temperature over a single lap, however managing them over a race distance shouldn’t be all the time so simple and has been a constant weak point for Leclerc in comparison with championship chief Verstappen.

However placing the idiosyncrasies of every automotive’s tyre administration to at least one aspect, Leclerc is undoubtedly making a declare for the title of F1’s quickest driver over a single lap. His Baku pole place lap was the newest instance of his pinpoint precision and masterful pace, as he got here near the boundaries on the apex and exit of virtually each nook with out as soon as wanting uncontrolled.

In a session that had seemed intently matched between the 4 drivers of the highest two groups all through Q1, Q2 and the primary run in Q3, Leclerc discovered practically 0.3s over his nearest rival when it mattered, and did so with out the benefit of a slipstream on Baku’s lengthy pit straight. The benefit he held was primarily within the tighter second sector of the observe, with Leclerc’s finest try at threading his Ferrari between the fortress partitions giving him a 0.327s benefit over second-place Perez in that sector alone. Crimson Bull gained lap time again on the straights, the place the lower-drag setup of the RB18 got here into its personal, however by the point his Ferrari entered the pit straight, Leclerc had time in hand after his intense flirting with the partitions earlier within the lap.

A exceptional lap in a front-running automotive is all the time simpler to establish than an equally spectacular lap in a midfield or backmarker automotive, and there are a selection of drivers who typically get essentially the most from their equipment in the identical manner Leclerc did on Saturday solely to line up halfway down the grid. George Russell, for instance, would even be a candidate for the very best qualifier in F1 after outperforming the person with essentially the most pole positions in F1 historical past, Lewis Hamilton, on the previous three occasions and hauling his Mercedes as much as fifth on Saturday.

However Leclerc’s complete dominance this yr of teammate Carlos Sainz, who’s something however sluggish, and his capacity to extract the quickest laps constantly whereas coping with the stress of a title combat, means he can fairly legitimately lay declare to the title of F1’s finest qualifier this yr. All he must do now’s convert that one-lap tempo into wins on Sunday.

— Laurence Edmondson

Did automotive problem value Perez pole?

There was some confusion at Crimson Bull forward of the ultimate timed laps of qualifying. Whereas Max Verstappen went out as scheduled, he quickly seen he had gone out earlier than teammate Sergio Perez.

Verstappen enquired as to why, as he was attributable to get a “tow” from Perez on his lap — the have an effect on of the slipstream down Baku’s lengthy straight is large. Perez’s automotive was delayed within the storage because the staff struggled to fireplace it up, which staff boss Christian Horner later defined as a problem with fueling the automotive.

Perez had been attributable to give Verstappen the tow, however had he been out in sync with different drivers, Crimson Bull had additionally deliberate for him to profit from the tow of one other automotive. Because it turned out, Perez needed to do his lap out of sync and in clear air, probably costing him a small chunk of lap time.

Perez’s ultimate hole to Leclerc was 0.282s.

“I feel, actually we might have been quite a bit nearer,” Perez mentioned of the tow, though he admitted Leclerc may need been out of attain anyway.

“It appears every time Ferrari places all of it collectively, they’re a a very good step forwards in qualifying. We misplaced just a few tenths, however perhaps not the three tenths we would have liked to be on pole.

“It wasn’t preferrred as a result of we have been out of sync on my lap.”

Crimson Bull staff boss Christian Horner downplayed the suggestion that the difficulty value the staff the pole.

“With a tow it will have been shut, however we nonetheless would not have had the tempo to nail Charles,” he mentioned. “[Ferrari] simply had the higher hand on a single lap.”

Pole place or not, Perez outperformed Verstappen as soon as once more on Saturday. He minimize the championship hole to fifteen factors by profitable the Monaco Grand Prix final day out, and if he finishes forward of Verstappen once more Sunday, he’ll make what’s an enchanting teammate dynamic much more difficult for Crimson Bull.

— Nate Saunders

Have Mercedes made one step ahead and two steps again?

On the Spanish Grand Prix three weeks in the past, it seemed like Mercedes had slashed the hole to Ferrari and Crimson Bull and was about to place Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in competition for victories on the coming races. However simply two bumpy road circuits later, and the quickest of the 2 silver vehicles discovered itself in a combat with Crimson Bull’s junior staff AlphaTauri for fifth on the grid on Saturday whereas being a whopping 1.3s off pole place — the largest dry-weather qualifying margin Mercedes has needed to the entrance this season.

So was the efficiency in Spain merely a false daybreak?

Not precisely. Whereas progress was made on the Spanish Grand Prix, it got here on a purpose-built circuit with a clean observe floor and a sequence of primarily high- and medium-speed corners. Over the bumpy road circuits of Monaco and Baku, Mercedes has uncovered journey points that weren’t obvious in Spain in addition to a return of the dreaded bouncing — or “porpoising” — on the high-speed straights in Baku.

The bouncing, which haemorrhaged efficiency from the Mercedes on the opening 5 rounds of the yr, is doubly irritating for the staff, because it not solely reveals that the automotive continues to be on a knife edge when it comes to curing the difficulty, but additionally that the time dedicated to fixing the bouncing has not been as nicely spent as its engineers had hoped. For each hour the staff’s manufacturing facility has labored on fixing the bouncing, it has misplaced as a lot time creating the supposed efficiency upgrades it had deliberate to enhance the baseline efficiency of the automotive. In the meantime, rivals Crimson Bull and Ferrari have pushed on with their very own developments and prolonged the hole on the entrance, which means the return of the bouncing in Baku has dropped Mercedes even additional off the tempo.

“We made a extremely good step in Barcelona,” insisted staff boss Toto Wolff on Saturday night. “On a circuit that has a clean floor, much less bumps, we’re positive.

“We had a very good automotive and we have been capable of extract the efficiency within the race, however in quali we have been missing a bit. It is easy to elucidate as a result of we have had now two months the place we’ve been attempting to resolve the porpoising and never having the ability to add baseline efficiency and that bites us a bit.

“For us, we perceive what is going on on. We perceive what we have to do and it means, in a manner … Montreal (the following race) is a extremely good race for us subsequent week as a result of Montreal is bouncing, it’s high-kerb using. After Montreal, I count on to have a greater view.”

But when the staff actually understands what is going on on, why cannot it convey a repair?

“I feel we all know what the basis reason behind our drawback is, however we do not have the solutions but of what the very best resolution can be,” Wolff mentioned. “And that is what we’re experimenting with in the meanwhile.

“I nonetheless assume there’s a short-term repair, which is making us far more aggressive, but it surely won’t clarify all the things. I would wish to get the automotive in the correct place for the second half of the yr and in addition for subsequent yr. So the training is extra key than short-term optimisation for a weekend.”

— Laurence Edmondson