FP2: Leclerc tops eventful session

By on
F1 Grand Prix, GP Azerbaijan, Baku Street Circuitaz

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc edged out team mate Sebastian Vettel by 0.324s to go fastest overall on Friday at Baku. The Ferrari pair exchanged the top of the timesheet repeatedly and were never really challenged for the top positions.

Lewis Hamilton came closest, but was still more than 6 tenths away from today's pace setter. Max Verstappen ended the session in 4th, splitting the Mercedes duo as Bottas had to settle with 5th due to being half a second slower than Hamilton.

Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat was 6th fastest, confirming that Toro Rosso is getting to grips with its car, only to end up in the barriers a few minutes later, bringing the red flags out for a second time. Lance Stroll had caused the first session stoppage as he clipped the barriers with his Racing Point just 15 minutes into the session.

Overall, tyre grip seemed to be at a premium with many drivers complaining of low tyre temperatures. Daniel Ricciardo was the most obvious struggler, as he ended his session 20mins from the end. The Australian Renault driver had repeatedly flat spotted several sets of tyres, and had no fresh Pirellis left to do more runs.

Results

Pos.No.DriverCarTimeGapLaps
116Charles LeclercFerrari1:42.872-28
25Sebastian VettelFerrari1:43.196+0.324s28
344Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:43.541+0.669s31
433Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing Honda1:43.793+0.921s24
577Valtteri BottasMercedes1:44.003+1.131s31
626Daniil KvyatScuderia Toro Rosso Honda1:44.177+1.305s9
755Carlos SainzMcLaren Renault1:44.183+1.311s27
823Alexander AlbonScuderia Toro Rosso Honda1:44.216+1.344s33
910Pierre GaslyRed Bull Racing Honda1:44.240+1.368s24
104Lando NorrisMcLaren Renault1:44.295+1.423s32
1120Kevin MagnussenHaas Ferrari1:44.901+2.029s25
1299Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo Racing Ferrari1:45.366+2.494s31
1311Sergio PerezRacing Point Bwt Mercedes1:45.436+2.564s28
147Kimi RäikkönenAlfa Romeo Racing Ferrari1:45.482+2.610s30
153Daniel RicciardoRenault1:45.483+2.611s15
168Romain GrosjeanHaas Ferrari1:45.618+2.746s31
1727Nico HulkenbergRenault1:46.717+3.845s24
1818Lance StrollRacing Point Bwt Mercedes1:47.875+5.003s8
1988Robert KubicaWilliams Mercedes1:48.111+5.239s27