Lewis Hamilton voiced his irritation with Ferrari’s tactics during the final qualifying segment (Q3) after he secured sixth place for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, remarking that "they altered the strategy." He questioned why the Scuderia opted for a single, multi‑lap run at the very end of the knockout stage rather than sending the car out earlier for a fresh set of opening laps, a method employed by Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Hamilton explained that his closing laps suffered because he lacked the aerodynamic benefit known as a "tow" – the slipstream generated by a car ahead that boosts straight‑line speed on Baku’s lengthy main straight. His teammate, Charles Leclerc, did enjoy a tow, as the Monegasque driver was scheduled to run second in the final qualifying session, allowing him to benefit from Hamilton’s slipstream.
Leclerc’s performance placed him on the front row, second only to dominant Mercedes pole‑sitter George Russell, who topped the session by a season‑best margin of eight‑tenths of a second. Reflecting on his own qualifying run, Hamilton told Sky Sports F1: "It was another disappointing qualifying.
It wasn’t for lack of effort. Q1 and Q2 were fairly solid – Q1 even decent – but we hit a snag in Q3 when the plan changed.
Instead of doing two runs we waited, and because I was ahead of Charles I had no car in front to give me a tow, which cost us a significant chunk of time. In any case we couldn’t match the Mercedes. They are simply quicker on the straights, and they executed a superb lap." Three of the five cars ahead of Hamilton on the starting grid – Russell, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris – all run Mercedes power units, underscoring the engine advantage the British team currently enjoys. Hamilton added, "I think overtaking a Mercedes tomorrow will be very tough.
Keeping up with a Mercedes engine on the straight is a real challenge, but I’ll give it everything I’ve got." Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur, speaking after qualifying, said: "We introduced several major set‑up changes and altered our approach, and it paid off today. George has been strong since the first lap of FP1, and Charles did an excellent job to put the car on the front row. For Lewis, it was difficult to obtain a tow because the differing run strategies made synchronization with the other cars complicated.
He also brushed the wall on his first lap in Q3, which compromised that attempt, yet he recovered well enough to finish sixth despite lacking a tow on his final lap." Leclerc, who secured Ferrari’s first front‑row start since the Hungarian Grand Prix in July, expressed satisfaction with his lap time but admitted the gap to Russell was larger than anticipated, even after a challenging Thursday. "Honestly, it was a pretty good lap," he said. "Lewis was three to four seconds ahead, and I managed to set a solid time at the end.
But when I compare the gap to George, perhaps my lap wasn’t quite enough." Despite the modest margin, Leclerc remained optimistic about the race, noting that Ferrari’s car often performs better in race conditions than in qualifying. "We’ll try and do our best," he said. "Whether that will be enough, only time will tell. We know we have a strong race car, usually better in the race than in qualifying, and I hope that will be the case again this weekend." Vasseur added that tyre degradation at the Baku street circuit is expected to be minimal, making track position especially crucial.
"We are in a position to score good points with both cars, even though Baku is always unpredictable," he concluded. The weekend schedule is packed: the F2 Feature Race begins at 7:55 am on Saturday, followed by the Grand Prix build‑up at 10:30 am, the main Azerbaijan Grand Prix at 12:00 pm, the chequered‑flag reaction segment at 2:00 pm, and finally Ted’s Notebook at 3:00 pm, all also broadcast live on Sky Sports Main Event. The 2026 Formula 1 season continues its live coverage on Sky Sports F1, with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix kicking off a triple‑header of races.
Viewers can stream Sky Sports via NOW without a contract and cancel at any time.