Plenty of Pole Positions for Leclerc, but Few Wins

Third place Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco celebrates during the awarding ceremony after the Formula One Grand Prix at the Baku circuit, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sunday, April 30, 2023. (AP)
Third place Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco celebrates during the awarding ceremony after the Formula One Grand Prix at the Baku circuit, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sunday, April 30, 2023. (AP)
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Plenty of Pole Positions for Leclerc, but Few Wins

Third place Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco celebrates during the awarding ceremony after the Formula One Grand Prix at the Baku circuit, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sunday, April 30, 2023. (AP)
Third place Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco celebrates during the awarding ceremony after the Formula One Grand Prix at the Baku circuit, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sunday, April 30, 2023. (AP)

Charles Leclerc is the first driver in Formula One history to win the pole position in two qualifying sessions on the same weekend.

He didn't come close to winning either race — the story of his career.

Leclerc has a talent for outperforming in an imperfect car — like this year's Ferrari — to set surprisingly fast times over a single lap. But he wasn't able to keep up with the dominant Red Bulls in either Saturday's sprint race or the main Grand Prix on Sunday.

Still, he finished second in the sprint and third in the main race to jumpstart a poor start to the 2023 season for Leclerc, who retired in two of the first three races.

“Got closer (to Red Bull), maybe a little bit, but still very far behind in race pace, at least, and also I think we are behind Aston Martin in terms of race pace,” Leclerc said Sunday. “For now, we need to work on that because for now over one lap, taking a bit more risk — of course I did also two great laps I think — in qualifying which helped us to be in front, but then over 51 laps (in Sunday's) race, there's not much we can do more.”

Leclerc now has 19 career pole positions — not counting his “sprint shootout” pole Saturday, which used a shortened format — but only five race wins. His record hardly mirrors Max Verstappen, who has 22 poles but 37 wins and two world championships.

Leclerc last converted a pole position into a race victory over a year ago, at the Australian Grand Prix in April 2022. Since that win, he has qualified on pole eight times — including four in a row in mid-2022 — and picked up one win, when he started second in Austria but passed Verstappen.

F1 has had qualifying specialists before, and plenty of drivers who were unlucky in races. Back in the 1980s, René Arnoux racked up 18 career pole positions but only seven wins, largely because of driving a fast but fragile turbocharged Renault at the peak of his career.

There are plenty of different causes for Leclerc's comparative lack of wins, ranging from a slow or unreliable car (the Ferrari overheated when he led from pole in Spain last year), team strategy blunders (a pit stop mix-up at the next race in Monaco) to driver error (a crash while in the lead after starting on pole in France a few weeks later).

The strangest of all was at his home race in Monaco in 2021. Leclerc set the fastest time in qualifying but promptly crashed. The car was repaired but a major problem became clear on his way to the grid and Leclerc had to retire the car in the garage, leaving pole position empty on the grid.

Where the next win might come from for Leclerc isn't clear.

“Still a lot of work to do in terms of race pace,” he said. “I think we’ve done absolutely everything, we’ve tried everything. But (the) bottom line is that we are just not quick enough.”



F1 on Jeddah’s Streets - Talking Points Ahead of the Saudi Arabian GP

 McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia walks through the paddock ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia walks through the paddock ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)
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F1 on Jeddah’s Streets - Talking Points Ahead of the Saudi Arabian GP

 McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia walks through the paddock ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia walks through the paddock ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)

This weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is the final leg of the first "triple header" of the season.

From Suzuka in Japan, to the desert of Bahrain, Formula One now pitches up on the shores of the Red Sea in Jeddah.

AFP Sport looks at five talking points ahead of the fifth round of the 24-race season:

Advantage McLaren

Oscar Piastri put in a faultless display from pole last Sunday in Sakhir to make it three wins out of four for the British marque.

That moved the cool as ice Australian to within three points of championship leader and teammate Lando Norris, who took third in Bahrain.

With Max Verstappen, only sixth, and Red Bull struggling to keep tabs on the world constructors' champions, the 2025 title could well develop into a battle between the two McLaren men.

The team has always been insistent on "papaya rules", theoretically meaning no favoritism between the pair, but that even-handed policy will be put under intense pressure if the season develops into a battle between the two gifted drivers.

Looking ahead to Sunday's race Norris commented: "It's a really fast track and we have a quick car, so we'll be aiming to finish this triple-header strongly."

Red Bull to bounce back?

Red Bull's problems in Bahrain were well documented, and they will be desperate to bounce back on one of their favorite hunting grounds, with Max Verstappen winning in Jeddah in 2022 and 2024.

"Bahrain was quite a difficult weekend for us and didn't really go our way at all. We had some issues that set us back and we still have a lot of work to do on the car to get us where we need to be," said the four-time champion.

He slipped to third in the standings, eight points behind Norris, after trailing in over half a minute behind Piastri in Sakhir.

"We have a final push with this being the third race and final weekend of the triple header so hopefully we can find more pace and bring out a performance similar to Japan (his only win of the season)," he added.

The circuit

Sunday's race presents a radically different test for car and driver than last week in Bahrain. The fastest street circuit on the calendar offers multiple chances for overtaking, in stark contrast to the most famous street circuit of them all, Monaco.

With a record 27 corners and three DRS (drag reduction system) zones it can be counted on to serve up plenty of drama, with the walled sides leaving little room for error.

All the ingredients then for a thrilling race under floodlights on Jeddah's Corniche.

Golf in the Gulf for Gasly

Alpine finally got off the ground in Bahrain, with Pierre Gasly picking up their first points of the season in seventh.

"It's great to leave Bahrain with points on the board after three challenging races at the start of the season," reflected the French driver.

He celebrated his bold show by following Rory McIlroy's emotional Masters triumph at Augusta.

"I really enjoyed staying up late to watch the end of the Masters and I'm delighted for Rory McIlroy, one of our investors, to finally secure the green jacket. Congratulations to him!"

Toto praise for Russell

George Russell will be hoping to concentrate on the job he's paid to do -- driving -- rather than as a part-time electrician. The Briton, enjoying his best ever start to a season, took second last Sunday despite a myriad of issues he had to contend with in the cockpit in the closing stages.

"It was a superb drive from him under extreme pressure," marveled Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.

Russell's teammate Kimi Antonelli did not enjoy the rub of the green and finished out of the points for the first time in his debut season.

"It has been easy to forget that Kimi is in the very earliest stages of his F1 career given his performances so far. Bahrain will prove an important milestone in his continued development," Wolff remarked.