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Charles Bradley

F1 Grand Prix practice results: Leclerc fastest in Azerbaijan GP on Friday

Red Bull’s Monaco winner Sergio Perez was fastest in FP1 but was beaten in FP2 by Leclerc, who was almost a quarter of a second quicker than the Mexican.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix FP1 results: Perez fastest from Leclerc

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 21 1'45.476     204.888
2 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 21 1'45.603 0.127 0.127 204.641
3 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 25 1'45.810 0.334 0.207 204.241
4 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari 22 1'46.012 0.536 0.202 203.852
5 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 22 1'46.571 1.095 0.559 202.783
6 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 21 1'46.667 1.191 0.096 202.600
7 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 25 1'46.696 1.220 0.029 202.545
8 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 24 1'46.705 1.229 0.009 202.528
9 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 25 1'46.830 1.354 0.125 202.291
10 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 21 1'46.917 1.441 0.087 202.126
11 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 19 1'47.691 2.215 0.774 200.674
12 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 24 1'47.847 2.371 0.156 200.383
13 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas 24 1'47.946 2.470 0.099 200.200
14 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 22 1'47.970 2.494 0.024 200.155
15 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 22 1'48.078 2.602 0.108 199.955
16 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 24 1'48.222 2.746 0.144 199.689
17 Thailand Alex Albon Williams 22 1'48.419 2.943 0.197 199.326
18 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 22 1'48.810 3.334 0.391 198.610
19 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams 7 1'50.921 5.445 2.111 194.830
20 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas 3 1'58.332 12.856 7.411 182.628

What happened in Azerbaijan GP Free Practice 1?

Red Bull’s world championship leader Max Verstappen set the early pace on mediums at 1m46.477s on mediums, 0.068s ahead of Perez. Ferrari initially ran the hard tyre, with Leclerc in P3 but over half a second off the pace.

After switching to softs, Verstappen lowered the bar to 1m45.810s before Perez set the fastest time of the session with 1m45.476s, a third of a second quicker.

Leclerc then split the Red Bulls with a 1m45.603s, 0.127s off Perez. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fourth, over half a second off, while Fernando Alonso was best of the rest for Alpine, albeit 1.095s off the pace.

Verstappen, whose DRS flap was fluttering wildly when open, suffered a late spin at Turn 15.

The session was interrupted by two virtual safety cars, the first for Mick Schumacher’s Haas – which poured its coolants on to the track when a water hose broke – and, later on, Nicholas Latifi’s Williams ground to a halt at Turn 5 after its electrics died and also needed retrieving.

The Turn 4 run-off was visited by Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), and the latter also clipped the wall at the exit of Turn 15 early on. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly also suffered a huge lock-up but didn’t hit anything.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix FP2 results: Leclerc fastest from Perez

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 24 1'43.224     209.358
2 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 22 1'43.472 0.248 0.248 208.856
3 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 18 1'43.580 0.356 0.108 208.638
4 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 22 1'44.142 0.918 0.562 207.512
5 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari 25 1'44.274 1.050 0.132 207.250
6 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 26 1'44.315 1.091 0.041 207.168
7 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 26 1'44.548 1.324 0.233 206.706
8 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 24 1'44.567 1.343 0.019 206.669
9 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 24 1'44.609 1.385 0.042 206.586
10 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 23 1'44.771 1.547 0.162 206.267
11 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 27 1'44.781 1.557 0.010 206.247
12 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 25 1'44.874 1.650 0.093 206.064
13 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 26 1'44.874 1.650 0.000 206.064
14 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 25 1'45.059 1.835 0.185 205.701
15 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 25 1'45.115 1.891 0.056 205.591
16 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 24 1'45.264 2.040 0.149 205.300
17 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas 26 1'45.588 2.364 0.324 204.670
18 Thailand Alex Albon Williams 13 1'46.397 3.173 0.809 203.114
19 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas 21 1'46.425 3.201 0.028 203.061
20 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams 26 1'47.218 3.994 0.793 201.559

What happened in Azerbaijan GP Free Practice 2?

All teams ran the medium tyre at the start of the session, with Leclerc setting the initial bar at 1m43.806s, 0.03s ahead of Verstappen, with Perez another tenth slower.

Leclerc switched to softs and unleased 1m43.224s. Sainz was on a potentially faster lap but locked up at Turn 16 and ran wide, ruining his soft-tyre run.

Perez was 0.248s slower than Leclerc after his first attempt but went off at Turn 1 on his second push lap. Leclerc then locked up and overshot Turn 8.

Perez went off again, this time botching the laps of Verstappen and Sainz who were running behind him. Verstappen finally got a lap in on well-used softs but stayed third from a soft-shod Alonso in fourth. Sainz was fifth, relying on his earlier medium-tyre time, ahead of Gasly.

Leclerc reported a loss of power in the closing minutes of his long run but the team reassured him it was fine.

Haas’s Kevin Magnussen ran straight on at Turn 3, while Alex Albon smacked a wall and damaged the right-front corner of his Williams. Schumacher ran long at Turn 4, as did Stroll and Sainz at Turn 15.

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