How 'outrageously brilliant' Charles Leclerc is driving better than he ever did

FIA press conference host Tom Clarkson claims Charles Leclerc's performance at the 2023 Azerbaijan GP was 'outrageously brilliant'. The Monegasque driver earned his first podium of the year and put in two stellar qualifying performances.

Leclerc took pole position ahead of both the sprint and main race, showcasing his virtuous consistency around Baku's street circuit. His 2023 campaign is not going as he would have liked, having DNF'd in two out of the four races so far this year.

With the Ferrari driver on the back foot compared to his rivals, his performance in Baku was nothing short of spectacular. The 25-year-old was unable to win the event but was able to hold off a charging Fernando Alonso at the end of the race.

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Tom Clarkson praised Charles Leclerc's performance in Baku, saying:

"I would say Charles Leclerc is driving better than I have ever seen him. Those two qualifying pole positions this weekend - outrageously brilliant. And he's doing so many of the silly mistakes."

"There's two types of drivers - one who you have to push to be fast and then they crash, and the one's that crash, so you have to get them to slow down. And he's one of those. He's blindingly quick and so mature and confident."

Charles Leclerc was the reason behind Ferrari's impressive performance in Baku, claims pundit

F1 pundit Scott-Mitchell Malm attributed Ferrari's remarkable performance at the Azerbaijan GP to Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque driver claimed two pole positions and two podiums during the first Sprint weekend of the season, demonstrating his skill on the street circuit.

While Ferrari finished 20 seconds behind the Red Bull duo in the main race on Sunday, there were still several encouraging factors for the Italian team. Leclerc was able to manage his tires better than before and showed promising pace.

While appearing on The Race podcast, Mitchell-Malm said:

"The biggest difference was Charles Leclerc. It's the Leclerc magic around a street track and one like this. Mark wrote a terrific piece about Leclerc's qualifying performance on Friday and it was brilliant. I haven't seen Leclerc's onboard lap but I've seen so many Charles Leclerc onboard and I remember reading and I could basically visualize it."

He continued:

"The bit that crystalized the most was when he got to the penultimate two corners and riding the sheer wave of confidence and tipping the car in, just letting it run and not having to think about it at all, that's peak Charles, especially on a street track."

With Ferrari having opened their podium account in Baku, it will be interesting to keep an eye on the Maranello-based outfit in the times to come.