Formula 1 lands in Azerbaijan for the eighth time in its history to race on the iconic Baku street circuit.
It does so on the back of a Ferrari victory at Monza with Charles Leclerc breaking McLaren’s big chance of a 1-2 finish. After also winning in Monaco and breaking his most famous curse, can Leclerc also break his mighty Azerbaijan GP curse? Yes, he has one there too!
THE CURSE OF CHARLES LECLERC AND FERRARI IN BAKU
Leclerc has achieved the last three pole positions at the Azerbaijan GP but has failed to hammer home the benefit of starting the race in pole position on Sunday.
Leclerc’s Baku curse is even more terrifying than his Monaco hoodoo, which he has already managed to break this year.
After the famous ‘I am stupid’ radio message after his accident on the ‘castle climb’ on his debut with Ferrari at this circuit, Leclerc has made Baku a ‘cursed’ circuit for him. A circuit where only Mercedes and Red Bull have won in its seven editions since 2016. Therefore, it is also a curse that also extends to the entire Ferrari team.
But this year everything can change. After what happened in the Italian GP and seeing the growth of Ferrari after the summer break, the Italian team and Leclerc have a great opportunity to break this curse, too. Of course, they will not be the favourites in Baku.
McLaren, unless there is a surprise, will once again be the reference in the Azerbaijan GP. With a car that has solved its top speed problems after the latest update and clearly the best in cornering, the papaya team should occupy the top positions.
The Woking-based team already had the best package at Monza, but once again the team failed with both race approach and strategy. Ferrari was better in this regard… but in Baku their SF24 should also be better suited to the characteristics of the circuit than Mercedes and Red Bull.
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