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

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.

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

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	20	1'43.484		208.832
2	S. Perez Red Bull Racing	11		Red Bull	Red Bull	23	+0.006 1'43.490	0.006	208.820
3	L. Hamilton Mercedes	44		Mercedes	Mercedes	22	+0.066 1'43.550	0.060	208.699
4	C. Sainz Ferrari	55		Ferrari	Ferrari	25	+0.466 1'43.950	0.400	207.896
5	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	25	+0.499 1'43.983	0.033	207.830
6	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	24	+0.545 1'44.029	0.046	207.738
7	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	24	+0.609 1'44.093	0.064	207.610
8	N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team	27		Haas	Ferrari	24	+0.991 1'44.475	0.382	206.851
9	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	16	+1.052 1'44.536	0.061	206.730
10	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	50		Haas	Ferrari	24	+1.063 1'44.547	0.011	206.708
11	Y. Tsunoda RB	22		RB	Red Bull	24	+1.161 1'44.645	0.098	206.515
12	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	25	+1.199 1'44.683	0.038	206.440
13	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	25	+1.253 1'44.737	0.054	206.333
14	F. Colapinto Williams	43		Williams	Mercedes	23	+1.265 1'44.749	0.012	206.310
15	V. Bottas Sauber	77		Sauber	Ferrari	24	+1.301 1'44.785	0.036	206.239
16	D. Ricciardo RB	3		RB	Red Bull	26	+1.572 1'45.056	0.271	205.707
17	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	25	+1.672 1'45.156	0.100	205.511
18	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	22	+1.907 1'45.391	0.235	205.053
19	E. Ocon Alpine	31		Alpine	Renault	24	+2.326 1'45.810	0.419	204.241
20	Z. Guanyu Sauber	24		Sauber	Ferrari	25	+2.463 1'45.947	0.137	203.977
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