Leclerc leads FP2 as all drivers push it to the limit – FP2 Highlights from Azerbaijan
Plastic bags ruined a few laps, but the drivers mostly kept it clean and no red flags or VSCs were thrown out
FP2 was the second session of the weekend at a sunny Baku, though temperatures had dropped a lot since FP1. The session saw many, many lockups, late braking causing drivers to overshoot turns and of course a bit of contact as well. Thankfully unlike FP1 all drivers were able to get decently representative laps in, and get some good mileage in the process.
FP2 started, and within a few moments we had drivers suffering… due to having plastic bags stuck on their cars! Sainz and Ocon were early victims, and had their laps compromised due to it. Sainz’s teammate Leclerc was however unstoppable, and set the early pace on a set of medium tyres.
Max Verstappen emerged out of the pits late and set about making up for lost time. Mick Schumacher also came out on track, and did some laps to get himself acquainted with the track after sitting out almost all of FP1 due to a fluid leak. Albon then hit the wall hard at Turn 17, though was able to get back to the pits and the session carried on as usual.
Alex Albon hits the wall in the kink at Turn 17 and has to visit the pits after picking up damage #AzerbaijanGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/eUyF9cysU1
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 10, 2022
Apart from this, a few drivers had their hotlaps affected due to those ahead of them locking up or running wide, but no mishaps occurred. The session ended with Leclerc leading home Perez, Sainz and then Verstappen while the two Alpine cars looked very racey all session long.
The AlphaTauri cars were split by Russell, while Hamilton was in 12th on the 15-year anniversary of his first F1 win. McLaren were 10th and 14th, while Alfa Romeo will have some work to do in order to improve their performance this weekend. That’s all for today, and now we just have to wait for FP3 and more importantly Qualifying tomorrow!
