What Is the Baku Curse That Charles Leclerc Would Be Keen to Break?

Charles Leclerc is an exceptional qualifier, having secured 25 pole positions in his F1 career. Unfortunately, he has only converted five of them into victories. For instance, despite qualifying P1 in Monaco in both 2021 and 2022, he failed to win either race. However, he broke that streak in 2024. Now, Leclerc will be aiming to end his Baku curse this weekend.

Leclerc’s record post-qualifying in Baku is worse. He finished first in qualifying in each of the last three seasons and failed to win the race.

In fact, each time he started on the first row, it was a Red Bull driver who emerged victorious. Sergio Perez in 2021 and 2023, and Max Verstappen in 2022.

On this day in 2018, Ferrari announced Charles Leclerc would join Sebastian Vettel in their line-up for the following season ⏪

Six years later, he’s a seven-time Grand Prix winner in red ❤️#F1 pic.twitter.com/GvnjyEWrIQ

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 11, 2024

One of the key factors holding Leclerc back in Baku has been high tire degradation. However, Ferrari made significant efforts to address this issue over the 2023 winter break. This improvement was evident when Leclerc executed a brilliant one-stop strategy at Monza two weeks ago, leading to his victory. As a result, this year could be different for him in Baku.

Moreover, Monza and Baku have various similarities, especially with both venues having long straights. Ferrari will be expected to run the same low-drag downforce, that helped them emerge victorious in Italy two weeks ago. However, winning will be far from easy, even with momentum on the Maranello-based outfit’s side.

McLaren seems to have the outright fastest car at the moment and its two drivers have been in top form this year. Furthermore, with Oscar Piastri also having confirmed that he will help Lando Norris in his bid for the Drivers’ championship, the Briton would likely be the man to beat this weekend.