Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari narrowly edged out his teammate, Charles Leclerc, during the second free practice session at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku. Meanwhile, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, both contenders in the Formula 1 title race, encountered difficulties.
The Ferrari pair, Hamilton and Leclerc, established an early lead, and despite challenges faced by their rivals on the tricky Baku streets, the Scuderia maintained their dominance throughout the session. Leclerc’s initial lap on soft tires was surpassed by Hamilton’s time of 1m41.543s using medium tires, hinting at the complex decisions teams will need to make regarding Pirelli’s C5 and C6 tire compounds during qualifying.
These lap times were already a full second quicker than those recorded in the FP1 session earlier in the day, on a street circuit that is seldom used and thus improving quickly.
After the customary pause in the middle of the session, certain teams resumed their activities with longer runs, while others continued to pursue improved one-lap performance. On his most recent attempt with soft tires, Norris suffered race-ending damage after hitting the barrier at the exit of Turn 4, resulting in a misalignment of his left-rear track rod.
Shortly thereafter, Leclerc overtook his teammate Hamilton, claiming the top spot with a lap time of 1m41.367s on soft tires, gaining the majority of the 0.176s advantage on the straight leading to the finish line in sector three.
Subsequently, Piastri also made contact with the wall at Turn 15, as did several other drivers, but the more forgiving TecPro barrier allowed the championship leader to escape with a minor impact without sustaining damage.
Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
With less than a quarter of the session remaining, Hamilton once again took the lead, this time using the softest tire compound, surpassing Leclerc’s time by 0.074s.
The incidents involving Norris and Piastri appeared to indicate that both McLaren drivers were struggling to achieve optimal grip while braking, and in their absence, the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli secured positions in the top four. The Silver Arrows conceded four tenths, with Russell also narrowly avoiding contact with the wall.
Oliver Bearman achieved a surprising fifth place for Haas, revisiting the venue of his 2024 appearance for the same team, followed by Max Verstappen of Red Bull, winner of the Italian GP.
Liam Lawson delivered a promising performance, finishing seventh for Racing Bulls, followed by Esteban Ocon in the second Haas and Alex Albon driving for Williams.
Norris only managed to secure tenth position before his collision with the wall, while Piastri found himself down in twelfth. The F1 championship leader will also be subject to investigation after the session for allegedly not reducing speed under yellow flag conditions midway through the session.
The action is scheduled to continue on Saturday morning with FP3 at 12:30 local Azeri time, with the qualifying session to follow at 16:00 local time.
