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Formula 1 Azerbaijan GP

F1 Azerbaijan GP: Leclerc leads Perez by 0.006s in tight FP2

A 1m43.484s proved good enough for Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to deny Red Bull a clean sweep of Friday practice sessions

Jake Boxall-Legge
Jake Boxall-Legge
Edited:
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team signs an autograph for a fan

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Alex Albon, Williams Racing

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Helmut Marko, Consultant, Red Bull Racing

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal and General Manager, Scuderia Ferrari

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team VCARB 01

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Nico Hulkenberg, Haas F1 Team, arrives at the track

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin F1 Team

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Franco Colapinto, Williams Racing, Alex Albon, Williams Racing

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin F1 Team, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin F1 Team

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber, in the garage

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team, in the cockpit

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
The car of Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24 is wheeled down the pit lane by team members

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Mercedes W15 floor detail

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Red Bull Racing RB20 diffuser

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Alpine A524 rear wing detail

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Front wings for the Mercedes F1 W15

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
RB F1 Team VCARB 01 technical detail

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, in the pit lane

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber C44

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
A Marshal waves the red flag

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Mike Krack, Team Principal, Aston Martin F1 Team

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, makes a pit stop during practice

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Franco Colapinto, Williams Racing, climbs out of his damaged car after a crash in FP1

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Franco Colapinto, Williams FW46, hits the wall and crashes out of FP1

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Marshals remove the damaged car of Franco Colapinto, Williams FW46, from the circuit

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Franco Colapinto, Williams Racing, is lead to the medical car after a crash in FP1

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38, Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team VCARB 01

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Ferrari SF-24 technical detail

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24, in the pit lane

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Oliver Bearman, Haas VF-24

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, walks away from the car after crashing into the barrier

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Charles Leclerc, Scuderia Ferrari, sits down after crashing into the barrier

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, walks away from the car after crashing into the barrier

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
The car of Franco Colapinto, Williams FW46, after marshals cleared it from the track

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Alex Albon, Williams FW46

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Pierre Gasly, Alpine A524

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin F1 Team, suits up in the garage

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing, Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative, Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber, Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team, in the Team Principals Press Conference

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Ferrari SF-24 technical detail

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber, in the cockpit

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Oliver Bearman, Haas VF-24

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR24

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber C44

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR24

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Oliver Bearman, Haas VF-24

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
76

Charles Leclerc recovered from his FP1 crash to headline the second practice session at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, pipping Sergio Perez by just 0.006 seconds.

Ferrari repaired Leclerc's car after his Turn 15 shunt in the opening stage of Friday practice, but the Monegasque proved irascible on the radio and made his displeasure about his rebuilt SF-24 clear after crashing in FP1, feeling that the steering was 'heavy'. He elected to pit amid further handling struggles.

This caused a slight layoff in running, and he returned to the circuit later in the session for a few exploratory laps on the medium tyre; despite an off at Turn 8, he was able to keep it out of the wall for a tilt on the soft tyres. This led him to set a 1m43.484s time, eclipsing Perez's time from earlier.

Watch: Leclerc Quickest Amidst Troubles - Friday Updates

In the early part of the session, Max Verstappen sought to reprise his role from FP1 and moved to the top of the order, although Perez soon put that in the shade with an impressive lap on the medium compound to put almost a second on his team-mate.

But the two were eclipsed by Carlos Sainz, who set the medium-tyre benchmark at a 1m44.323s prior to the mid-session soft-tyre runs. Perez got within a tenth, but was unable to move to the top of the order on his follow-up run.

Sainz then continued to forge a path at the top of the order on his first run on softs, setting a 1m43.950s, and a threatening lap from Verstappen ultimately did not prise the Spaniard from the zenith of the timing boards as the Red Bull driver lost four tenths in the final sector.

Perez did, however, punching in a 1m43.490s - finding a half-second advantage over Verstappen in the final sector to ensure he set the fastest time at that juncture.

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Lewis Hamilton got close on a set of used softs, grabbing a time just 0.06s behind Perez to bridge the gap between the Mexican driver and the rest of the order.

Running out of sequence, Leclerc then strung together the ultimate fastest time; moving ahead of Perez with a scant margin between them.

Hamilton's effort was good enough for third over Sainz, who was placed under investigation for appearing to impede Perez in the latter half of the lap.

Oscar Piastri led the line for McLaren with fifth, as Lando Norris was only 17th in the final timing order after bailing out of his sole hot lap. Norris had encountered a slow Pierre Gasly at Turn 18; the Alpine driver was suffering from a battery issue and inadvertently baulked the McLaren driver's path.

Verstappen ended the session in sixth, half a second away from Leclerc's line-leading time, while Lance Stroll was within a tenth of the championship leader.

Nico Hulkenberg was eighth ahead of George Russell, whose session came to an early end with an unspecified issue on his car. Oliver Bearman completed the top 10 in his first race for Haas, as he covers for the banned Kevin Magnussen.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Free Practice 2

   
1
 - 
4
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Laps Time Interval km/h
1 Monaco C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 Ferrari Ferrari 20

1'43.484

   208.832
2 Mexico S. Perez Red Bull Racing 11 Red Bull Red Bull 23

+0.006

1'43.490

 0.006 208.820
3 United Kingdom L. Hamilton Mercedes 44 Mercedes Mercedes 22

+0.066

1'43.550

 0.060 208.699
4 Spain C. Sainz Ferrari 55 Ferrari Ferrari 25

+0.466

1'43.950

 0.400 207.896
5 Australia O. Piastri McLaren 81 McLaren Mercedes 25

+0.499

1'43.983

 0.033 207.830
6 Netherlands M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 Red Bull Red Bull 24

+0.545

1'44.029

 0.046 207.738
7 Canada L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 Aston Martin Mercedes 24

+0.609

1'44.093

 0.064 207.610
8 Germany N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team 27 Haas Ferrari 24

+0.991

1'44.475

 0.382 206.851
9 United Kingdom G. Russell Mercedes 63 Mercedes Mercedes 16

+1.052

1'44.536

 0.061 206.730
10 United Kingdom O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 50 Haas Ferrari 24

+1.063

1'44.547

 0.011 206.708
11 Japan Y. Tsunoda RB 22 RB Red Bull 24

+1.161

1'44.645

 0.098 206.515
12 Spain F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 Aston Martin Mercedes 25

+1.199

1'44.683

 0.038 206.440
13 Thailand A. Albon Williams 23 Williams Mercedes 25

+1.253

1'44.737

 0.054 206.333
14 Argentina F. Colapinto Williams 43 Williams Mercedes 23

+1.265

1'44.749

 0.012 206.310
15 Finland V. Bottas Sauber 77 Sauber Ferrari 24

+1.301

1'44.785

 0.036 206.239
16 Australia D. Ricciardo RB 3 RB Red Bull 26

+1.572

1'45.056

 0.271 205.707
17 United Kingdom L. Norris McLaren 4 McLaren Mercedes 25

+1.672

1'45.156

 0.100 205.511
18 France P. Gasly Alpine 10 Alpine Renault 22

+1.907

1'45.391

 0.235 205.053
19 France E. Ocon Alpine 31 Alpine Renault 24

+2.326

1'45.810

 0.419 204.241
20 China Z. Guanyu Sauber 24 Sauber Ferrari 25

+2.463

1'45.947

 0.137 203.977
View full results  

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