The talk regarding the 2024 F1 driver’s championship has revolved mainly around Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. The latter had a shocker of a qualifying session in Baku yesterday (Q1 exit) while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured a sensational pole.
Seeing the Monegasque’s exploits, the 1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has asserted that Charles Leclerc also has an outside chance at the driver’s title. This is surely going to come as a bit of a shock to the fans worldwide.
As things stand, Leclerc is 86 points shy of Max Verstappen (303) in the standings.
Hold on, Leclerc is also in the championship fight somehow. He’s not that far off Norris in the points. We’ve only looked at Norris for the last few races, but Ferrari and Leclerc are also there.Jacques Villeneuve via an interview in Baku
🎙️| Jacques Villeneuve:
“Hold on, Leclerc is also in the championship fight somehow. He’s not that far off Norris in the points.”
“We’ve only looked at Norris for the last few races, but Ferrari and Leclerc are also there.”
👀
— Ferrari News 🐎 (@FanaticsFerrari) September 14, 2024
The Canadian has made a bold claim and keeping in view how unpredictable the ongoing season has proved to be, anything is possible. Norris is slated to start the Azerbaijan GP in P17 and this immensely improves Leclerc’s chances of winning in Baku.
Max Verstappen extremely impressed with Charles Leclerc
While Jacques Villeneuve views Charles Leclerc as a challenger for the 2024 driver’s title, Max Verstappen has also showered praise on Leclerc for his Baku qualifying exploits. The Monegasque operated at an extremely high level during the fiercely contested session.
Moreover, his gap to second-placed Oscar Piastri in Q3 was over three-tenths.
I think the combination of Ferrari and Charles around Baku are very very strong.Max Verstappen said post Baku qualifying session
🎙️| Max Verstappen:
“I think the combination of Ferrari and Charles around Baku are very very strong.”
— Ferrari News 🐎 (@FanaticsFerrari) September 14, 2024
Leclerc secured a shock victory at the Italian Grand Prix by making things work on a one-stop strategy. In Baku, he will be starting the 51-lap race from pole and thus, is in a really good position to secure the victory. It will be in the best interest of the 26-year-old to go into Turn 1 leading the race, it will bode well for the rest of his outing.