FP1 – Leclerc bounces back to go quickest in second practice in Baku ahead of Pérez

Charles Leclerc recovered from a crash in the opening practice session for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix to top the timesheet in the second session, with the Ferrari driver pipping Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez by the tiny margin of 0.006s. 

In the opening hour of practice, Leclerc had got off line on the approach to Turn 15 and clouted the wall, damaging the right front corner of his SF-24. Ferrari managed to repair the damage and in the second hour Leclerc made the most of the opportunity. 

His trip to the top of the timesheet wasn’t without it’s difficulties, however. Early in the second session the Monegasque complained of heavy steering and he was forced to return to the garage to have the issue corrected. And with the problem apparently solved he gradually worked his way to a late Soft tyre run of 1:43.484, just ahead of Pérez who had set his time mid-way through the session. 

It was a good session for Pérez at a track on which has he has won twice, in 2021 and last year. At the start of the session it was his team-mate Max Verstappen who set the pace, but Pérez blew past the championship leader’s early time by almost a full second to take top spot during the Medium tyre running. 

His time was then eclipsed by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who posted a lap of 1:44.323, but in the final laps ahead of the switch to Soft tyres and qualifying simulations, Pérez got to within a tenth of the Spanish driver’s benchmark. 

And when the move to Softs was made, Pérez was again to the fore. Sainz initially took top spot on the C5 tyre with a 1:43.950, but Pérez had that covered and he logged a lap of 1:43.490 to set the fastest time. 

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton got close on a set of used softs, getting to just 0.06s off Pérez but late on Leclerc put together the session’s fastest time, six thousandths of a second clear of the Mexican.

Hamilton’s time was good enough for P3 ahead of Sainz, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took fifth. However, the Australian’s potential title contending team-mate Lando Norris was only 17th after abandon his single qualifying run when he encountered a slow Pierre Gasly at Turn 18, with the Alpine driver apparenly suffering a battery issue. 

Verstappen ended the session in sixth, half a second off Leclerc and Lance Stroll was seventh ahead of Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg. George Russell was eighth for Mercedes, though his session ended early when he was sidelined by a technical gremlin. Oliver Bearman completed the top 10 in the second Haas. 

2024 FIA Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:43.484 20 208.832
2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:43.490 0.006 23 208.820
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:43.550 0.066 22 208.699
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:43.950 0.466 25 207.896
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:43.983 0.499 25 207.830
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:44.029 0.545 24 207.738
7 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:44.093 0.609 24 207.610
8 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:44.475 0.991 24 206.851
9 George Russell Mercedes 1:44.536 1.052 16 206.730
10 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:44.547 1.063 24 206.708
11 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:44.645 1.161 24 206.515
12 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:44.683 1.199 25 206.440
13 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:44.737 1.253 25 206.333
14 Franco Colapinto Williams/Mercedes 1:44.749 1.265 23 206.310
15 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:44.785 1.301 24 206.239
16 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:45.056 1.572 26 205.707
17 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:45.156 1.672 25 205.511
18 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:45.391 1.907 22 205.053
19 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:45.810 2.326 24 204.241
20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:45.947 2.463 25 203.977