Charles Leclerc posted the quickest time in the first meaningful session of the weekend at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Teams were keen to make up for lost time after Practice 1 was cancelled following George Russell’s collision with a loose drain cover, resulting in plenty of running on track.
Immediately, the Monegasque, who has a strong pedigree in Baku, went to the top of the timesheets despite a brush against the wall at Turn 7.
A slipstream down the main straight would increase his advantage over the rest, as Sebastian Vettel and the two Mercedes’ completed the top four.
There would be a second red flag of the day when Lance Stroll hit the barrier at Turn 2, as he misjudged trying to bail out down the escape road.
When the session restarted, the teams immediately switched to the Soft C4 tyre for the first low-fuel runs of the weekend.
And once again it would be Leclerc who produced consistent improvements to take the top spot, as the cool temperatures allowed the drivers to complete multiple flying laps.
The Ferrari driver would eventually post a 1m42.872s to be 0.3s clear of teammate Vettel.
Mercedes had no response to the pace of the Italian team with Lewis Hamilton 0.669s behind Leclerc in third as the Silver Arrows had the top speed but not the grip in the corners.
Max Verstappen waited a little later than most for his soft tyre run and would move upto fourth in the Red Bull just ahead of Valtteri Bottas in fifth.
The rest of the top 10 would be covered by just over a tenth of a second as Toro Rosso emerged as the midfield leaders.
Daniil Kvyat would be sixth fastest but later caused another red flag during the race simulations sliding into the wall at Turn 7. Teammate Alex Albon would have no such trouble as he set the fastest final sector time en route to P8.
Both McLaren’s returned to form with Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris in the top 10 and Pierre Gasly P9 in the second Red Bull.
Further down, Haas’ fears of a tricky weekend proved accurate as Kevin Magnussen, who narrowly avoided a big collision with Hamilton in the closing moments, was P11, with Romain Grosjean P16.
Sergio Perez, known as a Baku specialist, was P13 in the Racing Point, ahead of both Renault’s who struggled massively under braking.
Daniel Ricciardo locked up down multiple escape roads and would only finish 15th while teammate Nico Hulkenberg was further behind in 17th.
Full results from Practice 2 can be seen below:
