With the momentum from his victory in Monza, the Monegasque did it all today: He crashed, complained, and set the fastest time.
Three drivers from three different teams were at the top of the timesheets, separated by just 66 thousandths of a second. This is indicative of the uncertain path that the two practice sessions on the streets of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, took today. Since Miami, the top teams have been very close, and this trend continues in Baku. Additionally, Charles Leclerc’s excellent form with Ferrari continues, as he clocked the fastest time in qualifying with a time of 1’43″484. Second, just six thousandths slower, was Sergio Perez (Red Bull), who always performs well in the capital of Azerbaijan. He is the only driver with two wins and one Sprint victory and five podiums in seven appearances. Third was Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 66 thousandths slower than his future teammate at Ferrari.
Regarding tire usage, it was confirmed that the soft compound C5 will play a significant role in qualifying but not in the race. On the other hand, the hard compound will be used extensively. Nonetheless, only Alpine in FP1 and Mercedes in FP2 used a set of hard tires with their drivers. The other eight teams kept all their hard compound sets for the remainder of the weekend. The C3 tire is the one that fits best for the race, which is expected. The improvement in grip on the track was significant as the F2 and F1 cars made laps. Therefore, when looking at the times, we must take this factor into account.
Lap times dropped very quickly as the track was laid with rubber, but they still remain far from those recorded in last year’s practice period when Baku hosted the first Sprint weekend of 2023. The times are slower than the simulations and also slower than previous simulations. It is likely that the asphalt is dustier at this time due to lack of rain. Some local deformation was also observed due to overheating the tires after several laps. Regarding strategy, this is usually a race that takes place in two parts, with medium and hard tires.
Qualifying is scheduled for tomorrow at 15:00 and will be broadcast live on ANT1+.
The times in FP2 were:
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