McLaren shone early in Azerbaijan GP practice, but Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton hit back in FP2, setting up a close fight in Baku. Reports and results from Friday below.
FP1
Lando Norris led a McLaren 1–2 in the first practice session of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, setting a time of 1:42.704. Oscar Piastri followed in second, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third.
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The session saw several technical and unusual incidents, including a red-flag after Carlos Sainz dislodged a strip of rubber and part of the kerb at Turn 16, requiring repairs and halting the session. Both McLarens had early issues – Norris had to pit for a loose cover, and Piastri was briefly sidelined by a power unit issue. George Russell reported a burning smell from his Mercedes, and Alex Albon lost a mirror during the session.
Low grip made conditions tricky, with several drivers running wide. The mix of track issues and technical problems suggests an unpredictable weekend ahead on the streets of Baku.
FP2
At the start of the second 60-minutes everybody went out to complete flying laps on different compounds. After 15 minutes Leclerc set the pace by 1:41.786. Norris was the third at that time, meanwhile Piastri had not completed a clean lap. However Hamilton was getting up the speed, and ran the fastest time on mediums.
Following a short non track action period, Norris hit the wall at turn 7 – his McLaren’s suspension was broken. It meant he had to end his FP2 session, missing almost half the track time. Piastri hit the wall during his fast lap, too, but he could continue the training.
The second flying-laps-stint began with Leclerc’s fastest time on softs, 1:42.367. Around 10 minutes to go Hamilton topped the chart – he made a flying lap on his first run on softs (1:41.293). The order had not changed in the final minutes, the two Ferraris finished in 1-2, followed by Mercedes’ duo: Russell and Antonelli. Norris 10th and Piastri 12th, both of them around 1-second gap to Hamilton.
The full results of the free practices according to FIA.com:
