- Biden, Harris mark Oct. 7 with call for Mideast peace
- Dupont set for Toulouse return after post-Olympic holiday
- French rugby bosses tighten discipline after nightmare Argentina tour
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Visitors to get rare view of Rome's Trevi Fountain
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Man City and Premier League both claim victory in legal case
- Deschamps delight as 'light back on' for Pogba after doping ban
- Biden, Harris urge Mideast peace on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Neeskens, tough midfielder in Cruyff's Ajax and Dutch teams
- UN warns world's water cycle becoming ever more erratic
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- Ex-Dutch football star Johan Neeskens dies
- Man Utd battling to improve fortunes, says Evans
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Masood, Abdullah centuries lift Pakistan to 328-4 in first England Test
- Hurricane Milton strengthens fast, threatens Mexico, Florida
- Tunisia's President Saied set for landslide election win
- Barca hoping to return to Camp Nou 'by end of year'
- Trump to open second golf course at Scotland resort in summer 2025
- Super-sub Jhon Duran rewarded with new Aston Villa deal
- US duo win Nobel for gene regulation breakthrough
- Masood hits first ton for four years to power Pakistan to 233-1
- Fritz wins delayed match to reach Shanghai Masters third round
- Naomi Osaka pulls out of Japan Open with back injury
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Artist Marina Abramovic hopes first China show offers tech respite
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- Pakistan 122-1 at lunch in first England Test
- Kazakhs approve plan for first nuclear power plant
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
- Japan govt admits doctoring 'untidy' cabinet photo
- Israel marks first anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack
- Darvish tames Ohtani as Padres thrash Dodgers
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea's penalty heroics
RBGPF | -1.97% | 58.94 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.12% | 24.784 | $ | |
NGG | -1.23% | 65.69 | $ | |
SCS | -0.49% | 12.907 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.45% | 6.88 | $ | |
RIO | -0.17% | 69.58 | $ | |
GSK | 0.08% | 38.85 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.17% | 24.657 | $ | |
VOD | 0.41% | 9.7 | $ | |
RELX | -0.59% | 46.02 | $ | |
BCC | 0.76% | 139.97 | $ | |
JRI | -0.23% | 13.25 | $ | |
BCE | -0.58% | 33.515 | $ | |
BP | 0.86% | 33.165 | $ | |
AZN | -0.41% | 77.15 | $ | |
BTI | -0.18% | 35.225 | $ |
Leclerc hopes to finally capitalise on pole in Baku
Charles Leclerc on Saturday set himself up to bid for another emotional Ferrari victory when he claimed his fourth consecutive pole position on the streets of Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Monegasque driver, who triumphed at Monaco in May and won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza two weeks ago, continued his supreme current form to beat McLaren's Oscar Piastri by three-tenths of a second.
Despite three previous poles in 2021, 2022 and 2023, Leclerc has yet to taste victory in Azerbaijan.
In a dramatic qualifying session with title-chasing Lando Norris, in the second McLaren, eliminated in Q1 in 17th place, Leclerc clocked a best lap of one minute and 43.365 on his final run to take his career 26th pole.
Series leader and three-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull, who leads Norris by 62 points, qualified only sixth.
"It’s amazing to be on pole," said Leclerc.
- 'The pace was there' -
"The car felt really good and everything was great. It's one of my favourite tracks. I really like it. It hasn’t been an easy weekend because of my crash in FP1.
"It didn’t make me lose confidence, as I knew that the pace was there, but you’ve got to be back up to speed.
"In Q3 and qualifying, it was all about trying to stay away from the walls and on the last lap I went for it a bit more - and the lap time came very nicely."
His Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz was third in the second Ferrari ahead of Sergio Perez of Red Bull and Mercedes' George Russell.
"Its the best we could hope for," said Leclerc.
"The left side of the grid is a little bit less grippy, so first and third is where you want to start here and hopefully we can play a team game tomorrow to win.
"It's going to be a long race. In the past, we have been very strong in qualifying and struggled a bit in the race, but this year we have a stronger race car -- so I hope we can finally make it tomorrow.
"Tyre management will be a big thing so we’ve got to do a good job again. We did a good job in Monza, but we have to re-set every race we do so this is another race with other issues."
Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz qualified third.
"We had a solid qualifying and we're in a good position. I've never felt 100 per cent hooked up around here in my career and I tend to struggle on this track, but this is a good position. And my race pace seemed strong -- so I think it is all to play for."
Sergio Perez was a strong fourth for Red Bull on a track he enjoys, ahead of George Russell of Mercedes and Verstappen.
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was seventh for Mercedes ahead of two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and Argentine new boy Franco Colapinto who out-paced his more experienced Williams team-mate Alex Albon.
S.F.Warren--AMWN