Leclerc Crashes Out as Ferrari Struggles in Baku Qualifying
Qualifying for the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix turned into one of the most chaotic sessions Formula 1 has seen in years, and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was right in the middle of the drama. For a driver who has taken pole position at Baku four times before, expectations were high heading into Saturday. But instead of celebrating another front-row start, Leclerc found himself walking away frustrated, with his car in the barriers and only tenth place on the grid.
The story really began in Q2, when Ferrari chose to split tyre strategies between their two drivers. Lewis Hamilton was sent out on softs, while Leclerc ran on mediums. Ferrari believed the medium would be the stronger compound, but in practice that decision created a headache for both drivers. Hamilton, who had looked quick all weekend, was left vulnerable and ended up being knocked out in 12th. Meanwhile, Leclerc managed to scrape through into Q3, but not without a few off-track moments that showed he was already struggling with grip and confidence.
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Then came the final act. In Q3, as the drizzle began to fall and conditions got trickier, Leclerc’s session ended abruptly. On his first flying lap, he lost control at Turn 15 and slammed into the barriers. The Ferrari was damaged, the red flags came out, and his chance at a fifth Baku pole evaporated. Instead, he’ll start Sunday’s race from P10, alongside McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who also crashed out in the same session.
Leclerc admitted afterward that he had been battling the car all weekend. Normally Baku flows naturally for him, but this time he couldn’t find the rhythm. He said the switch to mediums in qualifying actually made things worse, leaving him unable to get the tyres working properly. The irony wasn’t lost on him—Hamilton had wanted to be on mediums, while Leclerc wished he’d stayed on softs. In the end, neither Ferrari driver was satisfied with how things played out.
It was clear that tyre choice played a huge role in the outcome. Most of the grid managed to get their mediums into the right performance window, but Ferrari couldn’t, and it cost them dearly. Team boss Frédéric Vasseur admitted that the situation was confusing for everyone, but stressed that the key was timing and warm-up rather than the compound itself.
Still, Leclerc is refusing to write off the weekend. Ferrari showed strong long-run pace on Friday, and Baku is a circuit where safety cars and strategy twists are almost guaranteed. That means opportunities will come, even from tenth on the grid. Leclerc himself put it simply: Saturday was disappointing, but Sunday is another chance. He’s determined to turn things around and make up ground in the race.
For now, though, his streak of Baku poles has ended, and Ferrari once again faces an uphill climb. With Max Verstappen on pole and Carlos Sainz alongside him on the front row, it will take everything Leclerc and Hamilton have to salvage a strong result in what’s shaping up to be another unpredictable Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
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