Leclerc fastest in Azerbaijan GP on Friday

Red Bull’s Monaco winner Sergio Perez was fastest in FP1 but was beaten in FP2 by Leclerc, who was almost a quarter of a second quicker than the Mexican.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix FP1 results: Perez fastest from Leclerc

What happened in Azerbaijan GP Free Practice 1?

Red Bull’s world championship leader Max Verstappen set the early pace on mediums at 1m46.477s, 0.068s ahead of Perez. Ferrari initially ran the hard tyre, with Leclerc in P3 but over half a second off the pace.

After switching to softs, Verstappen lowered the bar to 1m45.810s before Perez set the fastest time of the session with 1m45.476s, a third of a second quicker.

Leclerc then split the Red Bulls with a 1m45.603s, 0.127s off Perez. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fourth, over half a second off, while Fernando Alonso was best of the rest for Alpine, albeit 1.095s off the pace.

Verstappen, whose DRS flap was fluttering wildly when open, suffered a late spin at Turn 15.

The session was interrupted by two virtual safety cars, the first for Mick Schumacher’s Haas – which poured its coolants on to the track when a water hose broke – and, later on, Nicholas Latifi’s Williams ground to a halt at Turn 5 after its electrics died and also needed retrieving.

The Turn 4 run-off was visited by Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), and the latter also clipped the wall at the exit of Turn 15 early on. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly also suffered a huge lock-up but didn’t hit anything.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix FP2 results: Leclerc fastest from Perez

What happened in Azerbaijan GP Free Practice 2?

All teams ran the medium tyre at the start of the session, with Leclerc setting the initial bar at 1m43.806s, 0.03s ahead of Verstappen, with Perez another tenth slower.

Leclerc switched to softs and unleashed a 1m43.224s. Sainz was on a potentially faster lap but locked up at Turn 16 and ran wide, ruining his soft-tyre run.

Perez was 0.248s slower than Leclerc after his first attempt but…