F1 Azerbaijan GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP2

“Leclerc is at the top of the times for the day, which is quite a turnaround from the crash that ended his FP1 session. Remember all that time he spent in the pits in earlier in FP2? Our esteemed colleague Giorgio Piola has just come back into the media centre here in Baku to report (and with a nicely snapped picture too) that this for a full change of Leclerc’s power steering system. That might explain why he was unhappy with his steering at the start of FP2.”

“I was lucky enough to listen in to Bearman’s team radio from inside the Haas garage in FP1. He was remarkably cool on the radio - the only time he sounded agitated was when he noted the graining on the mediums he was running late on in FP1. I’m told by the team that silence on the radio is pretty typical of a rookie - they’re soaking in as much info as possible and being guided quite a bit by the team.”

“The best way to avoid graining the tyres on the long runs is to minimise rear tyre sliding at all the 90-degree turns here when it comes to putting the power down on exit. So all that lovely drifting you see in slow-mos, really isn’t good for going quickly overall over a race stint.”

“As the pack heads into the long runs, it’s worth noting that in the high-fuel running completed during FP1, plenty of graining was spotted on the medium tyres. A lot of that will be down to the very green track, but it’ll be a critical concern for the race. As this will likely be a nailed-on one-stopper, the graining factor could lead to a healthy amount of overtaking in the race as the drivers work to protect against or get through this.”

“Fascinating closeness on the softs between the temporary Haas team-mates Bearman and Hulkenberg. Less than a 0.1s between them on the qualifying simulation run is a great start for Bearman given how good a benchmark Hulkenberg is over one lap. Bearman looked to be well ahead in FP1, but I understand Hulkenberg had a DRS issue on his quickest lap, so that will account for most of the 0.5s gap in that session. That said, it shows too how already on the pace Bearman seems to be for Haas.”

“Verstappen’s gripe on the sun is reminiscent of how the setting sun in the red-flagged Melbourne qualifying in 2022 caused quite a lot of grief for the drivers. This race is much later in the year than it ever has been before, so how it’s coming in around the many buildings here will likely be a new challenge for the drivers. However, all being well, the race on Sunday will be completed by this stage.”