After qualifying he explained that in a fierce battle he had found extra time after getting “a bit closer to the walls”, and that he had gotten “a bit too close” on the last lap.

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the qualifying action from Baku as Leclerc takes pole position while Norris suffers shock Q1 elimination

“(I) just tried to get the most out of it,” said Piastri. “This circuit really rewards dedication, so in the last laps of Q3 I knew I had a lot less to lose, so I just tried to get the most out of the car. It felt good all the time, but I didn’t really make the most of it in the first part of qualifying, but I’m very happy with Q3.

“I think it’s going to be very difficult to stay here. We saw yesterday that it’s quite difficult when you’re behind someone, so hopefully I can get some clean air and that would be good. We’ll see what we can do. I think our race pace is good, but again, the Ferrari is certainly not slow.”