Charles Leclerc Laments Lost Azerbaijan GP Victory

Saajan Jogia | Sep 15, 2024

Charles Leclerc Wins The 2024 Monaco GP / Ferrari Press Image

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc secured a second-place finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after an intense battle for the top position with McLaren driver Oscar Piastri. However, the Monegasque driver blamed the hard tires in the final stint for being unable to overtake Piastri.

Leclerc started the race from the pole position, but an eager move by Piastri on Lap 20 pushed him behind the McLaren MCL38. Despite multiple moments where Leclerc closed the gap to just 0.5 seconds behind the Australian driver, he was unable to make the overtake.

The 26-year-old driver skillfully kept Red Bull’s Sergio Perez at bay, despite Perez closely pursuing him in third place and making several attempts to overtake the SF-24. Perez’s prowess around the Baku City Circuit was well-known, given his record for the most wins at the iconic street track, but Leclerc’s defensive efforts held firm throughout the race.

However, Lap 50 saw a fierce battle as Carlos Sainz in fourth performed a huge recovery in the last ten laps of the race, closing in on Perez and staying right on the tail of his RB20. Meanwhile, Leclerc was finding it difficult to manage his tires when Perez tried to pass him on Turn 1. As Leclerc managed to block him out, Sainz found the opportune moment to pass the Mexican driver.

As Sainz passed the Red Bull from the right, both cars made contact and crashed into the barriers, thereby ending their race. Mercedes driver George Russell went on to secure the third position under the safety car. Speaking in the post-race interview on an action-packed Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Leclerc told the media:

"I think as soon as we put the hard tyres on [I knew we couldn't win].

"The medium tyres felt good, but unfortunately we didn't do any high fuel running on my side in FP1 and FP2 and we went for a setup direction that maybe in the race was a bit more difficult to manage.

"Especially on the hard tyres I was struggling to keep those rears and at the end I thought in one corner or two I could put it in the wall, it was very close.

"McLaren and Oscar have done an exceptional job and done better than us. A huge shame for Carlos on the last laps, hopefully everyone is OK and obviously not a great day for the team.

"I think maybe McLaren had less downforce and in the straights they were very quick. I couldn't get as close as I wanted and eventually we lost the race when I didn't defend as well as I could have at the end of the straight. Sometimes you make mistakes and I'll learn from it."