Ferrari reveal Baku 'confusion' after disastrous F1 qualifying

Fred Vasseur has revealed Ferrari's confusion in a disastrous Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying after Charles Leclerc's crash and Lewis Hamilton's early exit.

Ferrari had shown strong pace throughout practice in Baku, topping FP2 with Hamilton ahead of Leclerc, and reinforced that in FP3, but things went wrong in qualifying.

The team split tyre strategies in the second segment, with Leclerc taking mediums and Hamilton softs, but a mistake at Turn 1 from Leclerc brought out yellow flags, which forced Hamilton to abort.

Eventually, Hamilton was eliminated in 12th with Leclerc knocking his team-mate out, as the Monegasque continued his bid for a fifth straight pole. 

A contender, Leclerc then crashed at Turn 15 in Q3, leaving Ferrari with its cars 10th and 12th on the grid. 

Reflecting on the session, team principal Vasseur detailed how there was some confusion over the tyres, with the medium rubber favoured by some being the C5 soft tyre of 2024, with the soft this year being the all-new softer C6 compound.

"It is a lot of frustration, because from the beginning of the weekend, we've had a strong pace over one lap and in the long runs," Vasseur told Sky Sports F1.

 "Conditions were for sure a bit different this afternoon, windier, with gusts, and it was also cooler, but at the end of the day, it was the same for everybody, and it is not an excuse at all.

"We struggled to put everything together, and I think the pace for Charles was decent. He was on a decent lap when he touched the wall, but it is what it is. 

"We have to be focused on the race. We had good long stints in practice, but for everybody, the pace was consistent. Last year, Norris was able to come from the back, so we need to be focused on this. 

"The fuel is why we aborted lap one [with Hamilton], and that means you are not fueling the car to do 10 laps, so we needed to push, and the tyres are a bit confusing for everybody. 

"At the end of the day, pole was on softs, and Carlos was second with scrubbed mediums, so everyone is in the same situation, but I think it was more [important] to put the tyres in the right window rather than the choice of tyre."