Azerbaijan GP - Free Practice 2Lewis Hamilton takes advantage of McLaren wall visits; Aston Martin disaster
The British driver demonstrated his good form by surpassing the time of his teammate Charles Leclerc. The two McLarens had a tough time with the walls, especially Lando Norris who suffered damage to his car. Sainz is close to the top 10 and Alonso is on the verge of a nervous breakdown in last place.
If the first free practice sessions had not provided representative readings for the weekend, the second ones have left a slightly clearer picture... except for the top of the pyramid. McLaren did not show up for the battle for the best times in Baku, which was exacerbated by the problems of their two drivers to complete laps without leaving marks on the wall. Ferrari took advantage of this, although Charles Leclerc and his condition as 'Messieur Azerbaijan' for a lap currently grants a symbolic victory to Lewis Hamilton, the fastest of the day.
After a few initial minutes of the usual gauging, Lando Norris decisively took the first position as he had done in the morning, marking a 1:42.1 that Leclerc initially stayed just eight thousandths behind, before later reducing it by four tenths. The Monegasque's reference was on soft tires, while Hamilton was running on mediums, where, on his second attempt, he took the lead with his Ferrari.
After a period of calm, and when long run tests had not yet begun, Norris made a double mistake by hitting the walls on both sides of his vehicle during a lap attempt. On the second, in turn 4, he damaged the left rear suspension, which made him return to the pits at very low speed to end his day. With the track cleared, Leclerc attacked the clock to take first place on softs... while Oscar Piastri also reported having touched the wall with the right side of his car, in his case with much less consequence.
As all this was happening, Aston Martin continued to crash against the relentless barrier of the clock, with Fernando Alonso more than a second and a half behind the Ferraris despite the lack of solid references from the McLarens. A good attempt by George Russell to dethrone Leclerc ended with a big correction halfway through the lap, but Hamilton did manage to beat his teammate's record with a 1:41.293, which remained the best final time of the session. The two Mercedes drivers were still behind the Maranello drivers, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli marking a time almost identical to Russell's.
Oliver Bearman, on mediums, led the modest zone in fifth position, achieving a faster time than Max Verstappen on softs. His teammate Esteban Ocon also finished in the top 10, accompanied by Liam Lawson and Alexander Albon. The Thai driver was again the reference for Williams, with Carlos Sainz just a tenth behind in eleventh position, although his best time was also on mediums. Comparatively, much better than a battered Alonso in 19th place, only ahead of Franco Colapinto. Perhaps this time Saturday will indeed be better than Friday...
Fotos: Scuderia Ferrari