Azerbaijan GP: Leclerc overcomes early gremlins to top FP2

Charles Leclerc overcame early concerns with his repaired Ferrari to set the top time in second practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit on Friday.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez was only six thousandths of a second slower than Leclerc, with Lewis Hamilton also within a tenth of the front runners by the time the chequered flag came out.

Max Verstappen couldn't repeat his earlier pace and was only sixth. George Russell missed half the session and finished ninth just ahead of Ollie Bearman. McLaren's Lando Norris repeatedly hit traffic problems leaving him P17.

• 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Free Practice 2 results

After a recent downturn in form, Red Bull had looked in better health in Baku in first practice with Max Verstappen coming out on top by three tenths over Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton. It had been a session punctuated by three red flags - for debris and accidents for Charles Leclerc and Franco Colapinto - plus an MGU-H issue for Esteban Ocon leaving the Alpine without a time.

It remained sunny and warm for FP2 when the lights went green for the start of the late afternoon session. The first times were set on mediums by the two Saubers with Valtteri Bottas well ahead of team mate Zhou Guanyu on 1:48.428s, but that was quickly bested by the likes of Oliver Bearman, Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda even before the big guns rolled into action.

Ferrari were once again looking strong with Charles Leclerc going top by almost a tenth from Carlos Sainz on 1:45.812s. However he was concerned that his repaired car was still 'bent somewhere' after his FP1 crash and told the team he was pitting even when they insisted there was nothing immediately obvious in the telemetry. In the meantime Sainz kept everyone on their toes with his own tap on the barrier.

Verstappen was soon a quarter of a second to the good, until his team mate Sergio Perez promptly went almost a second quicker again. Hamilton bounded up to second on hard tyres to split the Bulls, but there was bad news for his team mate George Russell whose car was still in the Mercedes garage undergoing a precautionary engine change.

Sainz took over the top spot by 0.038s and now it was Verstappen who had a lock up and near-disaster at turn 5, managing to stop just inches from the barrier. He was complaining about the balance of the RB20 and vision problems with the low sun. Also having a spin and taking to the escape road at turn 3 was Zhou, again with no lasting damage.

Yuki Tsunoda was first to swap to soft tyres and the RB duly went third, still three tenths off Sainz. Sainz improved his time further and it was enough to keep him 0.079s ahead of Verstappen's push on the same compound, the Red Bull struggling to match the Ferrari's times in the final sector. Hamilton was also quicker as he went third, but not for long as Oscar Piastri promptly jumped in front. However Lando Norris' one and only shot at a flying lap was thwarted by Pierre Gasly, who was suffering from battery issues.

There was an impressive run from Haas' stand-in driver Oliver Bearman who went sixth. Nico Hulkenberg soon responded but even so was less than a tenth ahead of the rookie. Lance Stroll was also looking much better this afternoon on the softs after struggling in FP1. And Perez was also on the march as he went quickest on 1:43.490s almost half a second ahead of Sainz - an impressive lap from a driver with a good record at Baku, confirmation too of significant track evolution.

Russell was finally back in action after his engine change, and Leclerc was also on track after his car received a once-over in pit lane. He immediately ran wide but didn't connect with anything and eventually improved to P7. Meanwhile Franco Colapinto's back tyre had scraped some paint off advertising hoarding in the Castle section coming up the hill, but the Argentinian was nonetheless only a few thousandths off the pace of his Williams team mate Alex Albon.

Hamilton proved that Mercedes was still very much in the running as he moved to within six hundredths of a second of Perez at the top of the times despite multiple laps on the quick-wearing softs. After that he was back on his original set of hards and most of the field were likewise on long distance runs, with the exception of the off-sync Leclerc who was finally able to try the soft compound.

Whatever the problem had been, the Ferrari mechanics has clearly resolved it as Leclerc went top by six thousandths of a second from Perez - with a help of a little tow in the final ten minutes. Russell was also given a late opportunity to run on the softs after his delayed start, a whisper of a tow from Gasly helping him place in ninth between the two Haas cars.

There were no further improvements in the last few minutes although Sainz and Bottas both took to the run-offs as they continued to push, Sainz also having a near-miss with Perez. However, in contrast to FP1 there had been no red flag stoppages during the hour.

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