Official F1 Journal Formula 1 Friday Round Up - Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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Free Practice One was filled with Red Flags as all drivers complained of track conditions. Leclerc and Colapinto hit the wall and Esteban Ocon also had a short session after a power unit investigation.

​Free Practice Two was far less dramatic than the first session of the day with all the drivers who crashed back on track, but it's Charles Leclerc who takes the fastest lap of the session.

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Free Practice One

Top 10 Results
1) Max Verstappen                 1.45.546
2) Lewis Hamilton                   +0.313
3) Sergio Perez                       +0.376
4) Lando Norris                       +0.481 
5) Carlos Sainz                        +0.627 
6) Oscar Piastri                        +0.736
7) Fernando Alonso                 +0.906
8) George Russell                   +0.970    
9) Charles Leclerc                   +1.062
10) Daniel Riccardo                +1.141  

The Baku City Circuit always delivers with two Red Flags brought out in FP1 alone, with the first being waved due to debris on the track and the second after Charles Leclerc crashes into the wall at Turn 15 after a heavy hit. Before hitting the wall, Leclerc was the fastest in the session up to that point, but the three-time Baku pole-sitter had to climb out of his Ferrari, but they should be able to repair his car for the next session this afternoon.

Rookie Franco Colapinto is joined by fellow F2 driver Oliver Bearman this weekend. Oliver is racing in Kevin Magnussen's Haas, giving Oliver a taste of what he will be experiencing next season.

A third Red Flag was brought out after Franco Colapinto hit the wall after losing the car's backend after running wide. He was running in 13th place at the time. Before the third Red Flag, drivers had started doing some soft tyre running with 16 minutes left on the clock.

Esteban Ocon had to end his session early as Alpine investigates a power unit issue.

Max Verstappen topped the timesheets for FP1 running on soft tyres along with Lewis Hamilton in second and Sergio Perez in third. Lando Norris finished fourth but only ran on medium tyres as did Piastri who finished in sixth place.

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Free Practice Two

Top 10 Results
1) Charles Leclerc           1.43.484 
2) Sergio Perez                +0.006
3) Lewis Hamilton            +0.066 
4) Carlos Sainz                +0.466
5) Oscar Piastri                +0.499 
6) Max Verstappen           +0.545
7) Lance Stroll                  +0.609
8) Nico Hulkenberg          +0.991 
9) George Russell            +1.052
10) Oliver Bearman          +1.063

Charles Leclerc heads back on track after the Ferrari mechanics fix his car from his crash in FP1, but continues to complain about problems with his car early in the session.

Carlos Sainz sets an early fastest lap with a 1:44.323 on mediums, while Verstappen has a lock-up around Turn 6. George Russell goes back into the garage with a suspected power unit issue, and Mercedes chooses to change the engine and misses half of the session.

Franco Colapinto and Esteban Ocon are also back on track after their problems in FP1. Oliver Bearman had an impressive session and finished in 10th place, just behind his teammate for the weekend.

Sergio Perez heads to the top of the leaderboard in the second half of the session ahead of his teammate, who seems to have been struggling during both the morning and afternoon sessions. Ultimately, Charles Leclerc finishes at the top of the timesheet in just 0.006 seconds in front of Sergio Perez.

© Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

Anny Wooldridge
​Writer at F1 Journal

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