#F1 #AzerbaijanGP FP2: @CharlesLeclerc pips @SChecoPerez by 0.006s. #BakuGP

Leclerc Azerbaijan GP FP2 – Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc bounced back from crashing out in opening practice to top the afternoon session at the Azerbaijan GP ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez as Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton completed the top three.

Leclerc set the benchmark of a 1:43.484 on the C5 red side-walled softer compounds and was a very narrow 0.006 seconds clear of Perez whilst Hamilton was a further 0.066 seconds off in third.

The Scuderia repaired the Monegasque driver’s SF-24 entry after his turn 15 shunt in the earlier FP1 session, but Leclerc was frustrated on the radio and made his voice known about his rebuilt car after his tangle, feeling that the steering was “heavy”. The opted to pit amid more handling struggles.

This caused a slight layoff in his running, then Leclerc re-emerged on track later on in the session for a few sighting tours on the C4 mediums; despite an off-track excursion at turn eight, the Ferrari driver was able to keep it out of the wall for a stint on the softs. This lead the Monegasque driver to post a 1:43.484 effort, pipping Perez’s time for earlier in proceedings.

In the earlier stages, championship leader Max Verstappen sought to return back to the top of the pile as he done in Free Practice 1 and hit P1, although Perez then put in a solid flying lap on the medium tyre to go almost a second clear of his Red Bull team-mate.

The duo were ousted by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who posted the medium-compound benchmark of a 1:44.323 before the qualifying simulation stints. Perez got within a tenth of the Spaniard but was unable to jump the Ferrari driver to take the top of the leaderboard.

The Sainz continued his charge in the P1 slot going even quicker on his initial hot-lap on the softs; a 1:43.950, and a threatening flyer from Verstappen ultimately did not beat the Ferrari drivers’ effort as the Dutchman lost four tenths in sector three.

However, Perez posted a solid 1:43.490 – finding a half-a-second gain over team-mate Verstappen in the final sector to ensure the Mexican post the fastest time in that section of the Baku City Circuit.

Hamilton got close on a scrub set of the softs, scoring an effort only 0.06 seconds behind Perez to bridge the gap between the Mexican and the rest of the field.

Running out of sequence, Leclerc then posted the session-topping benchmark, moving ahead of Perez with a tight margin between them.

Hamilton’s effort was enough for third over Sainz, who is currently under investigation by the stewards for impeding in the latter half of the tour.

Oscar Piastri was the leading McLaren MCL38 entry in fifth as Verstappen finished the day sixth while Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was a tenth off the Red Bull driver in seventh.

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg and Oliver Bearman placed eighth and rounded out the top 10 whilst Mercedes’ George Russell split the duo in ninth.

Russell encountered an unspecified issue during the session and was forced to end FP2 early.

RB’s Yuki Tsunoda ended the day outside the top ten in 11^th place and ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was 12^th and the two Williams FW46 entries of Alexander Albon and Franco Colapinto sitting 13^th and 14th respectively.

Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas took 15^th and in-front of RB’s Daniel Ricciardo who took 16^th and McLaren’s Lando Norris who was a low-17^th.

Norris aborted his sole flying-tour. The McLaren driver also encountered a slow-moving A524 entry of Pierre Gasly at turn 18; the Frenchman was suffering from a battery problem and baulked the Briton’s path.

BWT Alpine F1 Team pairing Gasly and Esteban Ocon were 18^th and 18^th respectively as Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu brought up the rear.

You can see the full Formula 1 Qatar Airways Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2024 Free Practice 2 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2024/races/1245/azerbaijan/practice/2

#F1 #AzerbaijanGP FP1: @Max33Verstappen quickest as @CharlesLeclerc, #Colapinto crashes.

#F1 Qatar Airways #AzerbaijanGP 2024 Preview. #Formula1 #BakuGP

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