Ferrari Looks Fast. Now It Needs to Finish.

Charles Leclerc has accomplished the primary half: After turning within the quickest lap in qualifying, he’ll begin the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from pole place on Sunday.

Now he has to do the half that has proved problematic for him this season: Finish the race.

In three begins this season, Leclerc’s Ferrari has been working on the finish solely as soon as. He was the sufferer of an engine drawback in Bahrain and a first-lap crash in Australia. For the second, although, Leclerc has his place excellent.

He will begin simply forward of the season chief, Max Verstappen of Red Bull, on Sunday, and one row in entrance of his Ferrari teammate, Carlos Sainz, and the opposite Red Bull, pushed by Sergio Pérez. Qualifying forward of them was heartening. Staying forward of all of them on Sunday shall be rather more troublesome.

How to Watch

Time: The Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday begins at 7 a.m. Eastern, which is 3 p.m. native time on the Baku City Circuit.

TV: The race will air on ESPN within the United States, beginning with prerace protection at 5:30 a.m. Eastern. Not in America? A full listing of Formula 1 broadcasters, for wherever you might be, could be discovered right here.

Sunday’s Starting Grid

Ferrari and Red Bull have been the quickest automobiles in qualifying. (Yes, that sounds acquainted.) Lewis Hamilton will begin fifth in his out of the blue resurgent Mercedes.

Hamilton’s workforce shall be much less blissful about seeing his associate, George Russell, method down the grid in eleventh after a disappointing qualifying session. Verstappen would fairly not see Russell in any respect on Sunday after he and the Mercedes driver collided within the dash race on Saturday.

This Week’s Story Lines

Can anybody sustain with Red Bull? Yes, that’s a narrative line each week. No, nobody has accomplished it but.

Are their pursuers beginning to shut the hole? Ferrari is in pole place and can line up first and third. Lewis Hamilton, sounding recharged after a month off, adopted a podium end in Australia with a stable qualifying run in his Mercedes. Aston Martin’s ageless Fernando Alonso was proper close to the chief once more. Red Bull’s dominance — three races, three victories — has been the story of the Formula 1 season, however did its pursuers put their time without work to good use within the storage? Not so quick, stated Leclerc: “We’ll go for it, but we need also to be realistic, and until now we have been on the back foot in the race. Especially the Red Bull seems to be a step ahead, so let’s see how it is.”

Watch for some ring rust. Pierre Gasly and Nyck De Vries each crashed in qualifying on Friday, and Yuki Tsunoda and Logan Sargeant did the identical on Saturday — a day when the actual sparks got here after Verstappen and Russell collided collectively throughout the dash race. Was {that a} reflection of the tight angles on Baku’s avenue course, or the truth that that is the primary race in 4 weeks? It’s value watching Sunday for these type of split-second moments, which may spoil a day — or change a race — right away.

What They’re Saying: Verstappen vs. Russell

The largest speaking level of the weekend was the contact between George Russell and Max Verstappen on the primary lap of Saturday’s dash race, the place Russell put a gap within the aspect of Verstappen’s Red Bull and Verstappen sounded as if he wished to do the identical to Russell.

Cameras caught their temporary change afterward, which started with Russell showing to shrug off the accident because of chilly tires and ended with Verstappen issuing a warning that he may return the favor someday.

The verbal sparring continued within the drivers’ postrace interviews:

• Verstappen: “I respect all the drivers a lot, and it’s a bit of common sense as well what you do on the first lap. They are off the pace and to risk that much in Lap 1 is not very rewarding, because I will get him anyway within a few laps.”

• Russell: “He’s got enough experience to know that if you’re trying to overtake a guy on the outside there’s a risk the guy on the inside is going to run wide into you.”

• Verstappen: “He tells me, ‘Yeah, I got cold tires.’ We all have cold tires. That’s not an excuse.”

• Russell: “There was a lot of F’s and whatnot from his side. From my side, I was on the inside and was quite surprised he was resisting it so much. I’m here to fight. The move was on.”

Last Time Out

Results of the third race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix on April 2:

Drivers’ Championship Standings

Sergio Pérez received the 17-lap dash race on Saturday, choosing up factors that minimize his deficit behind Verstappen, the chief within the season standings. Leclerc completed second, a outcome that greater than doubled his season factors complete. “One thing for sure,” he stated of his efficiency on Saturday. “It shows how bad the first three races were.”