It was a tough Sunday for Scuderia Ferrari HP‘s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as both drivers battled through strategy limitations, traffic, and missed qualifying opportunities to finish P8 and P9, respectively.
Starting on Hard tyres, Lewis made an early move on Alonso and climbed to P10 before the Safety Car was deployed due to Oscar Piastri’s crash. Charles, on Mediums, took advantage of the restart to pass Norris and Hadjar, briefly running in P7. Lewis followed suit, overtaking Hadjar on lap 7 with DRS to move into ninth.
Charles pitted early on lap 20 for Hards, aiming to undercut Norris, but rejoined behind Liam Lawson and struggled to pass due to a minor power unit issue. 
Lewis extended his first stint until lap 37, switching to Mediums and rejoining behind Charles. With ten laps to go, Norris overtook Charles, prompting a team strategy swap that allowed Lewis—on fresher tyres—to chase Norris. However, he couldn’t close the gap, and the planned swap-back didn’t materialize before the chequered flag.
“It’s not the result we were aiming for,” said Hamilton. “The car felt better today, but we couldn’t close on the cars ahead. Qualifying hurt us, and we’ll focus on improving that heading into Singapore.”
Leclerc added, “I was stuck behind Lawson for most of the second stint and couldn’t make a move.
Qualifying was the turning point—we had the pace but didn’t execute.”
Team Principal Fred Vasseur acknowledged the disappointment, citing qualifying as the root of the weekend’s struggles. A marginal engine issue on Charles’ car further complicated their race, limiting straight-line speed and overtaking potential.
“We had the pace to do better, but execution let us down,” Vasseur said. “We’ll investigate the PU issue and regroup for Singapore. The fight continues.”
Despite the challenges, both drivers brought home valuable points. With warmer conditions expected in Singapore, the team is optimistic about bouncing back and unlocking the car’s full potential.
