Leclerc Tops Practice for 2024 Azerbaijan GP

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped Friday Practice for 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.

Leclerc recovered from a FP1 crash and a steering issue in FP2 to set the quickest lap of the day, ahead of Sergio Perez by 0.006 seconds on a competitive day of running.

Max Verstappen meanwhile topped FP1 but finished sixth in FP2 with the order looking very close at the close of Friday Practice.

 

FP1

Williams’ Alex Albon was first out on track but he only did an installation lap before he pitted.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc quickly set the pace on 1m 49.740 in the fifth minute, but he was displaced by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in the eighth minute with 1m 47.618.

Leclerc however went quickest three minutes later but he was displaced by Verstappen on 1m 47.214 just moments before the red flag was deployed, due to debris on the track which was quickly cleaned up.

The session resumed five minutes later and Leclerc soon regained the fastest lap time with 1m 46.608 from Verstappen by 0.030s, but he soon locked up and ploughed his Ferrari into Turn 15 barriers to cause a 27th minute red flag.

After an eight-minute delay, several drivers opted for a soft-tyre qualifying simulation which saw Hamilton post 1m 45.859 to set the pace from McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Red flags were however back out with 18 minutes left after Williams’ Franco Colapinto crashed at Turn 4.

Action resumed eight minutes later and Hamilton looked set to top the session until Verstappen set the fastest lap at the checkered flag, as the Dutchman posted 1m 45.546 to finish quickest.

Hamilton had to settle for second ahead of Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez who was third fastest, whilst Gasly was the only driver to not set his quickest lap on the softs – as he instead did his best time on medium tyres.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1m 45.546
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+ 0.313
3	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	+ 0.376
4	Lando Norris	McLaren	+ 0.481
5	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+ 0.627
6	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+ 0.736
7	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 0.906
8	George Russell	Mercedes	+ 0.970
9	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 1.062
10	Daniel Ricciardo	RB	+ 1.141
11	Oliver Bearman	Haas	+ 1.427
12	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	+ 1.589
13	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 1.638
14	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber	+ 2.094
15	Yuki Tsunoda	RB	+ 2.162
16	Franco Colapinto	Williams	+ 2.355
17	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 2.409
18	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 3.166
19	Guanyu Zhou	Sauber	+ 3.506
20	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	No Time

 

FP2

Verstappen was first out on track but quickly pitted to switch from soft to medium tyres, whilst Leclerc set 1m 45.812 as the early FP2 benchmark, which the three-time champion soon bettered with 1m 45.563.

Perez however produced 1m 44.598 in the seventh minute to set the pace, yet Sainz seven minutes set the quickest time of the opening phase with 1m 44.323 on mediums.

RB’s Tsunoda was amongst the first to switch to soft-tyre qualifying simulations just over 20 minutes into the session, but it was Sainz who proceeded to set the soft-tyre pace with 1m 43.950 in the 26th minute.

Perez though was amongst the last drivers to switch to the soft tyres and set 1m 43.490 in the 33rd minute to top the timesheet, until Leclerc snatched the fastest lap with 13 minutes left as he topped FP2 from the Mexican by 0.006s.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1m 43.484
2	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	+ 0.006
3	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+ 0.066
4	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+ 0.466
5	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+ 0.499
6	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+ 0.545
7	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 0.609
8	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	+ 0.991
9	George Russell	Mercedes	+ 1.052
10	Oliver Bearman	Haas	+ 1.063
11	Yuki Tsunoda	RB	+ 1.161
12	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 1.199
13	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 1.253
14	Franco Colapinto	Williams	+ 1.265
15	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber	+ 1.301
16	Daniel Ricciardo	RB	+ 1.572
17	Lando Norris	McLaren	+ 1.672
18	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 1.907
19	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	+ 2.326
20	Guanyu Zhou	Sauber	+ 2.463