Azerbaijan GP: Lando Norris “still hopes” for a good result

Leclerc’s pole was his fourth in a row at this track, but he has not yet been able to convert any of them into a win.

The Ferrari driver, who won the Italian Grand Prix two weeks ago, said: “Looking back at the three years I was on pole, one year we had the car to be on pole, but in 2021 and 2023 we did particularly good laps and were not at our best, so I didn’t expect to win in those years.

“In 2022, the engine blew up while we were in the lead – what a pity. And tomorrow I hope the pace we’ve seen all weekend is still there, but it’s a completely different thing because with high fuel consumption, tire wear is going to be a big problem, so we need to get that under control and if we can do that, hopefully we can bring home the win.”

Norris’ best hope for a good result is a chaotic, eventful race, as has been regularly seen in the past.

Sainz said: “The biggest challenge in Baku is usually the red flags because that interrupts the rhythm of the race. I remember one year there were two or three red flags in the same race and then you had to wait until the track was cleared. That is of course the worst.”

“Then there are the safety cars. It is very difficult to maintain the temperature in the tyres here. So if there is a safety car restart, it can very easily happen that the front wheels lock up and you end up driving far to the outside in the first three corners.”

“All these aspects make Baku an unpredictable race. Because as soon as there is an unexpected surprise, such as a safety car or a red flag, it creates even more chaos afterwards, like a snowball effect.”

Verstappen, for his part, is not optimistic that he can fight for the win, saying the car’s behaviour in qualifying did not give him the confidence to attack.

“The car doesn’t feel good now,” said Verstappen.