Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Free Practice 2: Leclerc ahead of both Red Bulls
The second free practice session took place under the hot sun of Baku. And it's Charles Leclerc's Ferrari that takes the lead ahead of the two Red Bulls.
At the start of the session, Lando Norris made a mistake at turn 3 on his first flying lap, missing the corner and being forced to finish in the run-off area, without any consequences. A few minutes later, it was Vettel who made a similar error at turn 1. Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon both fell victim, at the beginning of the practice, to plastic bags getting stuck in the brake ducts of their cars, again without any consequences.
Lewis Hamilton is the first driver to have set the fastest time on the medium tyre, before being beaten by Carlos Sainz and then by his teammate Charles Leclerc, with Fernando Alonso separating the two, despite the intense bouncing of the Ferrari.
After 20 minutes of the session, it is the two Ferraris and the Red Bulls that are intermingling, with Leclerc ahead of Perez by a small tenth of a second.
At the midway point of the session, all the drivers switched to the soft red tyre, and once again it was Leclerc who set the fastest time ahead of Perez and Verstappen. These best times coincided with a series of mistakes from the drivers. Mick Schumacher made an error, followed by Alex Albon who missed his entry into Turn 16 and hit the inside wall, due to a misjudgment, forcing the Thai driver to return to the pits. Then Perez missed his braking point at Turn 1, followed by Leclerc further down the track, and then Perez again at Turn 13. Finally, Lance Stroll also went off track at Turn 13 towards the end of the session.
Slight concern for Charles Leclerc with a loss of power towards the end of the stint, ultimately without danger, a false alarm that comes at the wrong moment after Scuderia’s numerous reliability issues. Right after, his teammate Sainz goes straight at turn 13.
Leclerc takes the lead
With a better time of 1:43:224, Charles Leclerc is ahead of Sergio Perez’s Red Bull by 0.248 seconds and Max Verstappen’s by 0.356 seconds. Not far behind the Dutchman is the great Fernando Alonso, followed by his compatriot Sainz. Gasly takes 6th place ahead of George Russell. It was a bad session for Hamilton, who finishes 12th, with a lot of bouncing on the straight lines.
Next appointment tomorrow at 1 PM to follow the final free practice session in Baku.
| N° | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:43:224 | 24 | |
| 2 | Perez | Red Bull Racing | 1:43:472 | +0.248 | 22 |
| 3 | Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 1:43:580 | +0.356 | 18 |
| 4 | Alonso | Alpine F1 Team | 1:44:142 | +0.918 | 22 |
| 5 | Sainz Jr. | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:44:274 | +1.050 | 25 |
| 6 | Gasly | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1:44:315 | +1.091 | 26 |
| 7 | Russell | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:44:548 | +1.324 | 26 |
| 8 | Tsunoda | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1:44:567 | +1.343 | 24 |
| 9 | Ocon | Alpine F1 Team | 1:44:609 | +1.385 | 24 |
| 10 | Norris | McLaren F1 Team | 1:44:771 | +1.547 | 23 |
| 11 | Vettel | Cognizant Aston Martin Racing | 1:44:781 | +1.557 | 27 |
| 12 | Hamilton | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:44:874 | +1.650 | 25 |
| 13 | Stroll | Cognizant Aston Martin Racing | 1:44:874 | +1.650 | 26 |
| 14 | Ricciardo | McLaren F1 Team | 1:45:0589 | +1.834 | 25 |
| 15 | Bottas | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1:45:115 | +1.891 | 25 |
| 16 | Zhou | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1:45:264 | +2.040 | 24 |
| 17 | Magnussen | Haas F1 Team | 1:45:588 | +2.364 | 26 |
| 18 | Albon | Williams Racing | 1:46:397 | +3.173 | 13 |
| 19 | Schumacher | Haas F1 Team | 1:46:425 | +3.201 | 21 |
| 20 | Latifi | Williams Racing | 1:47:218 | +3.994 | 26 |
