Baku’s street circuit broke from its usual rhythm this week, with second practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix run on Thursday evening instead of Friday because Saturday’s race avoids a clash with Sunday’s national holiday. It made for a compressed build-up. The George Russell Azerbaijan GP FP2 session still delivered a clear story: Russell set the pace with a best lap of 1m43.347s, comfortably ahead of Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli in second.
It wasn’t a clean session for everyone else. Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad brought out a red flag after hitting the wall at Turn 9, in Baku’s tight castle section. Oliver Bearman’s Haas then suffered a power unit failure as he left the pitlane. Fernando Alonso fared worse still, managing only nine laps before stopping with a suspected power unit oil leak. Even by Baku’s demanding standards, it made for an eventful evening.
The compressed schedule adds an extra wrinkle for anyone following along. Practice, qualifying and the race are all squeezed into the back end of the week now. Our guide on how to watch the Baku event is worth a look if the change of days has caught you out.
Executive Match Summary & Scoreboard
Mercedes arrived in Baku in good form and left FP2 with the timesheet to prove it. Russell’s 1m43.347s went unchallenged through the closing runs. Antonelli followed him home in second, comfortably clear of the rest of the field. Baku’s mix of long straights and slow, technical corners makes single lap pace hard to read early on, which is why a clear leader by the end of the session carries real weight.
Behind that headline result, the session had plenty of chaos. A red flag for Lindblad’s crash cost the whole field valuable track time. Two separate power unit issues, for Bearman and Alonso, meant neither driver banked the mileage they needed. On a Thursday schedule that already left less time than usual to prepare, that lost running matters more than it would on a normal Friday session.
Qualifying and the race both arrive sooner than usual this weekend. Teams have less room to fix problems found on Thursday. Mercedes will be pleased to bank clean data before that turnaround. Racing Bulls, Haas and Aston Martin all have repair work to finish in a shorter window than normal.
Detailed First Half Narrative
Baku’s long straights and blind, wall-lined corners make the opening part of any practice session a careful balancing act. Drivers need laps to build confidence. A single lock-up into the castle section can end a session in an instant. That is exactly what happened to Arvid Lindblad, whose Racing Bulls car clipped the wall at Turn 9 and brought out the red flag.
Reports on when the incident happened during the session don’t agree, so the precise minute isn’t confirmed here. What is clear is the effect it had. Cars were called back to the garage. Marshals cleared debris from a track that offers almost no run-off, and running paused while the wall was checked for damage. For a rookie still learning Baku’s unforgiving rhythm, it was a costly way to lose track time on a Thursday that already offered less preparation than usual.
Once running resumed, Mercedes looked settled from the restart. Russell’s early pace hinted at what was still to come later in the session, even before his fastest lap went in. Elsewhere on the grid, the switch to Thursday added another layer to an already busy week for Red Bull, following on from Isack Hadjar’s return in Azerbaijan GP practice earlier in the weekend.
Detailed Second Half Narrative & Drama
The second half of FP2 belonged to Mercedes, even with the drama unfolding around them. Russell found his 1m43.347s in the closing runs, a time nobody else got close to all session. Antonelli’s reply kept the constructors’ picture honest without ever threatening top spot. That result confirms George Russell Azerbaijan GP FP2 pace as the benchmark the rest of the field will chase into qualifying.
Not every car made it through the second half in one piece. Oliver Bearman’s Haas suffered a power unit failure just as he left the pitlane, bringing his session to an abrupt halt. The exact cause hasn’t been confirmed, and Haas will want answers before Saturday’s shorter run into qualifying. Fernando Alonso’s afternoon was even more limited. He managed just nine laps before stopping with what’s understood to be a suspected power unit oil leak, with no cause or fix confirmed at this stage.
Put together, it leaves George Russell topping the FP2 times in a tidy story from a session that chewed up three other cars. Mercedes banked the data they needed. Racing Bulls, Haas and Aston Martin all head into a shortened weekend with unfinished business. For the full timeline of red flags and stoppages, Autosport’s FP2 session report and Motorsport.com’s FP2 report both carry more detail from the Baku paddock.
Player Ratings (home side)
George Russell (9/10): Russell set the pace all session and ended FP2 fastest in 1m43.347s, a time nobody else at Baku could live with. It was a clean, mistake-free run through a session littered with red flags and mechanical dramas. That left Mercedes best placed heading into a short turnaround to qualifying.
Kimi Antonelli (8/10): Antonelli backed up his team-mate again, finishing second quickest overall and clear of the rest of the field. A strong showing from the rookie around a street track that punishes small errors. It came together despite the track time lost to the session’s red flag.
Player Ratings (opponent)
Arvid Lindblad (5/10): Lindblad’s session ended against the Turn 9 wall in the castle section, triggering the red flag that cost the wider field valuable running. A costly error on a weekend already squeezed by the switch to Thursday practice. Racing Bulls are now left with repair work to finish in less time than usual.
Oliver Bearman (4/10): Bearman’s afternoon was cut short by a power unit failure just after he left the pitlane, with the exact cause not yet confirmed. A frustrating way to lose running for Haas in a session already tight on time. The team now has work to do before Saturday.
Fernando Alonso (5/10): Alonso completed only nine laps before stopping with a suspected power unit oil leak, with no cause or fix confirmed at this stage. Limited mileage on a circuit where rhythm and confidence matter a lot. Aston Martin now have plenty to sort before qualifying.
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