Strategy guide: why have teams saved two sets of hards for the Baku race?

Although Pirelli expects teams to pursue a one-stop strategy, most of them have kept two sets of hards for today’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. F1Technical’s lead journalist Balazs Szabo delivers his strategy guide.

Charles Leclerc secured his fourth consecutive Baku pole position. The Ferrari driver proved that he really feels at home on this unusual track, where no one has managed to beat him over a single lap since 2021 onwards.

In fact, apart from these four poles, he was also quickest in last year’s Sprint Shootout. This was the Monegasque’s 26th pole, his third this year, while for Ferrari it’s number 252, its fifth at this track, the first here dating back to 2018 courtesy of Sebastian Vettel.

Leclerc’s 1’41”365 put over three tenths between himself and second placed Oscar Piastri (1’41”686 for McLaren) and was 44 hundredths quicker than team-mate Carlos Sainz, third in 1’41”805.

Commenting on the nail-biting qualifying, Pirelli’s motorsport director Mario Isola insisted that he expects the track to offer significantly more grip during the race due to the track evolution.

“It really seems as though Leclerc has a special feeling for this track as it’s not often you see a driver take four consecutive poles at the same Grand Prix!

“Once again today we saw the track get quicker and quicker the more laps the cars did, but we are still a long way off, not just the time expected from the teams’ simulations of 1’39”4, but also far from last year’s pole (1’40”203), which shows there is still room for more track evolution during the race.

Pirelli thinks that the 51-lap Azerbaijan Grand Prix is a clear one-stopper, under normal circumstances. But there are two ways to approach it, and also a high safety car probability, which could turn things around entirely.

The easiest way is to start on the P Zero Yellow medium and then move onto the P Zero White hard. This gives a wide pit stop window and therefore plenty of options, making it a good conservative choice.

Those wishing to try something a bit edgier could use hard to medium. Stopping two times is clearly the slower approach, but those opting for a two-stop strategy are expected to start on the medium before switching to the hard compound for the last two stints.

Although the one-stop strategy looks the quickest on paper, many drivers have saved two sets of hards for the race, with only the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell and Alpine racer Pierre Gasly having only a single set of hards available for today’s race.

Those with two stops might have made sure that they have a second fresh set of hards in case a safety car or virtual safety car is deployed after their first pit stop, or the race gets interrupted through a red flag period.

Speaking of the potential strategies, Isola noted: “In terms of strategy, on paper, the one-stop is definitely the quickest option at this track, with Medium and Hard the most suitable for the 51 lap race.

“A two-stop only becomes credible if there is a Safety Car in the second half of the race and that’s probably why many drivers have held back two sets of C3 for tomorrow afternoon. Theoretically, based on an initial look at the data, the first stop should come between laps 13 and 20 for those who opt to start on the Medium, while those who leave the grid on Hards should pit between laps 32 and 38.

“Clearly, a neutralisation could lead to a run of pit stops, as we saw last year for example. One factor to consider will be graining, given that the track is still very dirty,” Isola concluded.