Daniel Ricciardo topped the timesheet in the FP2 session ahead of Formula 1’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, beating Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen by 0.069 seconds.
Ricciardo set the pace early on in the session, recording a 1m43.947s on the supersoft tyre to post an early benchmark.
When he later fitted the ultrasoft tyre for a qualifying simulation run, Ricciardo twice improved to lower the fastest time to an eventual 1m42.795s. This time was set on his third timed lap on the ultrasoft rubber.
Raikkonen finished second on the timesheet, less than one-tenth adrift. His time in the final sector was aided by a tow courtesy of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, suspected to have shaved around 0.2s off of Raikkonen’s overall time.
Championship leader Sebastian Vettel failed to record a clean lap during the qualifying simulation runs, having spoilt his first attempt after out-braking himself and using the escape road at Turn 15. He finished 11th.
Following his FP1 crash, Max Verstappen finished third on the timesheet, just over a tenth behind his team-mate Ricciardo. Verstappen missed the opening 20 minutes of the session while Red Bull finished repairing the car.
His session ended in concerning fashion, however, when his Renault power unit appeared to falter. Verstappen was advised to return to the pits using low revs as the chequered flag fell.
The Mercedes duo of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton did not improve as much as their rivals when moving to softer tyre compounds. The pair finished fourth and fifth respectively and over 0.75s behind Ricciardo.
Hamilton did, however, set a session-best time in the first sector before a lock-up at Turn 7 compromised what would have otherwise been a quicker lap.
Despite McLaren being one of the slowest teams in the speed trap, Fernando Alonso ended the day sixth on the timesheet. Esteban Ocon, who impressed to finish fifth in the morning session, was seventh in FP2.
Renault had ground to make up following the flat-spots which curtailed the team’s running in FP1. Carlos Sainz Jr locked up heavily at Turn 1 during the closing stages of the afternoon, but his qualifying simulation placed him eighth, with team-mate Nico Hulkenberg 10th. The pair sandwiched Kevin Magnussen who was ninth for Haas.
Stoffel Vandoorne and Marcus Ericsson propped up the timesheet. Vandoorne failed to record a representative lap on the ultrasoft tyre, while Ericsson’s session was curtailed within the first 30 minutes after his Sauber lost gearbox pressure.
Comments.
Loading comments…