Daniel Ricciardo confirmed himself as the man to beat heading into the weekend after setting the quickest time in Practice 2 ahead of the Azerbaijan GP.

After only the use of Ultrasoft tyres helped Valtteri Bottas beat the Australian in the first session, in the second there was no stopping the Red Bull driving as he posted a 1m42.795s.

Kimi Raikkonen was only 0.065s behind in second for Ferrari, however, the Finn would benefit from a huge slipstream behind Lewis Hamilton along the 2.2km main straight, thus distorting his time.

In effect then, it was a Red Bull 1-2 as Max Verstappen, recovering from his crash in the morning, finished third just over a tenth behind his teammate, which should generate some confidence after a shaky start.

One of the key challenges teams are facing is optimising the tyre temperatures to extract more grip from the softer compounds and once again, Mercedes are struggling compared to their rivals with Bottas and Lewis Hamilton three-quarters of a second slower than Ricciardo in fourth and fifth respectively.

Another challenge was judging the braking zones as many drivers took the various escape roads, particularly at Turns 1, 2 and 3.

It was going straight on at Turn 15 which hurt Sebastian Vettel though, as the German would not complete a qualifying-style run in his Ferrari, ending a difficult day only 11th fastest.

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The midfield also remains somewhat jumbled with times largely impacted by whether the driver was given a tow down the main straight.

It would be Fernando Alonso in sixth for McLaren with Esteban Ocon continuing Force India's strong pace in seventh.The Silverstone-based team is well-known for topping the speed traps and that will be particularly advantageous in Baku.

After a morning cut short by both drivers ruining their tyres with lock-ups, Renault had both Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg back in the top 10 in eighth and 10th. The Haas of Kevin Magnussen was the meat in the French sandwich in P9.

Down the order, Williams continued to show a little more competitiveness with Lance Stroll in 14th. On the contrary, Toro Rosso slipped back with Pierre Gasly one place behind the Canadian in 15th.

Charles Leclerc put his Sauber into 16th as teammate Marcus Ericsson missed out on much of the session with a gearbox problem.

Full results from Practice 2 can be seen below:

Former Renault and Williams technical director Pat Symonds believes the strategy Ferrari used in China was proof their only focus is on Sebastian Vettel becoming champion.

The German would lose the lead to Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas during the pit-stop phase during the race in Shanghai with the Scuderia opting to effectively ruin teammate Kimi Raikkonen's race by leaving him out on used tyres to try and hold up his fellow countryman.

It proved ineffective, as Bottas passed around the outside at Turn 1, and though Raikkonen was later advantaged by the fresher tyres after the Safety Car, that couldn't have been known when the decision was made to use him as an attempted roadblock.

“I think they need to decide how they’re going to go racing,” Symonds was quoted by PlanetF1.

“The way they used Raikkonen in China was unfortunate – leaving him out for so long and trying to slow down other cars. And to be honest, it didn’t really work.

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“I don’t think that’s the way to get a Constructors’ Championship," the current technical director at the Formula One Group added.

“They obviously feel that the Drivers’ Championship is more important, and they’ve made their decision as to where that will go (ie. Vettel).”

Symonds also commented on the recent difficulties at Mercedes, which has seen the recent dominant force in F1 fail to win any of the first three races.

Problems optimising the tyres are believed to be the main reason but the Briton rightly points out that is not a new dilemma for the team.

“If you look back at the recent history of Mercedes, one thing that they've never quite got on top of is tyre management,” he said Symonds via Motorsport Week.

“We saw it a lot in the pre-hybrid era when they didn't have the engine advantage they enjoy now.

“Then, if they didn't get their tyre quite right, they didn't have great races. I think things were masked from 2014 to 2016, simply because they had this big power advantage."

Lewis Hamilton has spoken highly of his relationship with Sebastian Vettel as Formula 1 returns to the site of their biggest moment of controversy.

It was in Baku last June that the Ferrari driver famously bumped into the Mercedes in response to what he saw as a brake test by the world champion prior to a Safety Car restart.

Many thought that would be the spark for a heated rivalry between the two most successful drivers of this generation but instead, it has remained one based on respect.

“We all make mistakes but it’s more so how people handle it and how they progress [that] is what you can really learn from," Hamilton commented on Thursday.

“The respect has grown, actually, a considerable amount since then. I’m sure it will continue. He’s continued to progress as the champion that he is – how he presents himself, how he speaks – he continues to grow.”

At the first two races in Azerbaijan, it was Mercedes that have held the advantage, mostly due to their engine advantage on the 2.2km kinking main straight.

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However, having not won any of the first three races, Hamilton isn't expecting an easy ride this weekend or going forward as their period of domination looks to be over.

“The others have definitely stepped up. We’ve made a step forward but they have made a bigger leap,” he said.

“Coming to the end of last year, all the teams were a lot closer at the last race. It’s always easier to catch up but to be pioneering, which we have been for the last four years, has been exceptional.

“Now we have Red Bull at their best, or close to their best, and Ferrari at their best. If we are able to pull through and deliver as we have in previous years it would be the biggest achievement this team will have accomplished.”

The list of current Formula 1 races facing uncertain futures continues to grow with the iconic venues that host the Belgian and Japanese GP's the latest to join.

RaceFans reports organisers of the events held at Spa-Francorchamps and Suzuka will need to sign new deals with commercial rights holder Liberty Media to remain on the schedule on the calendar in 2019.

This comes as the Italian, German, British Grands Prix are known to under threat with Brazil and now Spain also having question marks placed on their futures, although Barcelona chiefs have played that down.

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Monza, Silverstone, Hockenheim, the Nurburgring and Interlagos are all in talks over their respective future placements on the schedule which, with the return of France this year, is equal to the record of 21 races in a single year.

F1's commercial director Sean Bratches is also eyeing an expansion with a return to Holland and Argentina, a second US race possibly in Miami and a new race in Vietnam all believed to be strong candidates.

Daniel Ricciardo has denied rumours that he has signed an agreement with Ferrari regarding talks over a possible seat in 2019.

This week, several well-respected sources came to a greater consensus that the Australian was in talks with the Scuderia to replace Kimi Raikkonen with an exclusivity contract in place meaning he can only talk to the Italian team until June 30.

Unsurprisingly, it was one of the first topics brought up when the current Red Bull driver spoke to the press in Baku on Thursday, and he was forthright in his response.

“I’ve only had talks with Red Bull,” he claimed. “Even already last year we’ve been pretty open with each other.

“Obviously I’m aware of other reports but there hasn’t been anything else so they’re not true, at least up until now, certainly not.”

Some further speculation already hinted at possible salaries with Ricciardo apparently wanting AUS$66m for two years according to one report.

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Nevertheless, the 28-year-old himself insists his decision is only based on one goal.

“The real requirement is to try and put myself in a position to win a world title," he declared.

“It doesn’t mean where I am currently is not that place but I think that’s why I’m trying to take my time with it is because it’s still too early.

“Obviously we won last race, that was great. Realistically we need to win more than just once in the season to fight for a title so that’s why I’m going to take my time.

“That’s the priority for sure. The financials and all that is definitely behind that.”

Max Verstappen admits he is not a fan of the current generation of Formula 1 cars due to the increased difficulty to overtake.

The Dutchman has come under fire in recent weeks after a number of incidents in the opening three races, including contact with Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain and Sebastian Vettel a week later in China.

And though the current designs may be the fastest the sport has ever seen, the Red Bull driver admits the impact on the racing has been purely negative.

“It was a lot more fun in 2016. You could follow each other better and, in some way, it was more gratifying,” Verstappen claimed on his official website.

"Since 2017 it's a lot harder and less fun to really race each other. The braking distance is shorter and it's just very hard to follow each other, the car can also make unexpected movements and suddenly break out."

Another area the 20-year-old would like to see a reversal on is tyre compounds and a simplification of the current system.

"I would only like to see a soft and a hard tyre [at races]. Ultimately people do not have to know if it's Ultrasoft or Supersoft," Verstappen said.

"When you go to a track and you take an Ultrasoft and a Soft, then you call the Ultrasoft a soft one and the Soft one will be the hard tyre. I think people do not care how soft the tyre really is."

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He concluded by assessing the current position of his Red Bull team, who, despite a double retirement in Bahrain, have looked more competitive even if the Dutchman has yet to show it.

“The car is okay. We are still a bit short in qualifying, but in the races, it's looking good,” he said.

"So far, due to various reasons, we haven't achieved the results we wanted, but now I'm looking forward to Baku. I think we can have a good race there, and there are still eighteen races to come, so hopefully we will do well.

"The car is in a good condition and I think it will be even better on a street circuit. I am very much looking forward to it in any case!"

A return for Aston Martin into Formula 1 in 2021 could persuade Ferrari to not follow through on their quit threat, according to CEO Andy Palmer.

The British sportscar maker is waiting in the wings to start full development on an engine and become a supplier when the new rules come into effect in three years time, however, the negotiations on the engine type continue after initial proposals were met by great scepticism by their Italian counterparts.

With the prospect of a road car and GT racing rival coming into F1 though, Palmer believes that changes the thinking of all parties involved.

“Liberty [Media] obviously want a new engine [for 2021]. They want to move the sport on,” Palmer told F1 Racing. “The incumbent teams don’t want to change the engine very much.

“In the old world, they would have won, wouldn’t they? But now they’ve got someone sitting behind them saying, ‘If you write the rules like this, we might be interested in providing an engine’. Now there’s an alternative.

“Now, when Ferrari threaten to leave the sport, Liberty can go, ‘well, Aston and Ferrari, same kind of space, same kind of customer type, maybe it’s not such a bad thing if you want to leave’.”

Aston Martin has been gradually increasing their presence in F1 in recent years, partnering up with Red Bull in 2016 and now are the title sponsor for the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

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What Palmer does concede though, is hurdles remain to overcome before they can fully come back as an engine maker. 

“I’m not under any illusions about how difficult doing an F1 engine would be – I’m a powertrain engineer originally,” he added.

“If we’re really going to simplify, and cap development costs, there’s a possibility we could be involved but if I were to get involved, I’d do it with partners."

There is also the matter of ensuring whatever unit they develop would be competitive.

“If we can, we will, but we are not going to provide an engine to Red Bull that’s going to sit at the back of the grid,” Palmer concluded.

Though having seen his team fail to win any of the first three races, Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff thinks the 2018 Formula 1 could be "legendary".

The Austrian has talked up the battle between the German manufacturer and arch-rivals Ferrari with Red Bull also now looking to get in on the act after Daniel Ricciardo's victory in China.

With a much greater sense of anticipation over which of the top three teams will be ahead at each given weekend, Wolff admits that feeling carries over within the team.

"So far, this year has all the ingredients for one of those legendary F1 seasons," he told the official Mercedes website. "A season that fans will look back on with smiles on their faces in years to come.

"And it's not just the fans at home or at the race track who are excited – we feel the same, and we know that we have a massive challenge on our hands.

"Last year, we were in a tough fight with Ferrari. However, it was nothing compared to the intensity of this year's battle."

The end of their engine dominance, at least against their Italian rival, and problems extracting the optimum performance from the tyres have been identified as the main reasons for the end of Mercedes run of success.

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However, it is exactly this type of battle, Wolff claims, the team at Brackley have desired as they prepare for the next chapter in Azerbaijan.

"Not everyone likes this kind of challenge – but we love it," he said. "Each member of our team joined this sport for these moments.

"We're all together in an amazing battle in which every detail counts and with an outcome no-one can predict.

"We're going into the race weekend in Baku feeling excited about that unpredictability."

Valtteri Bottas made the ideal start to the Azerbaijan GP weekend by setting the quickest time in the first practice session on Friday.

The Finn lapped the Baku street circuit in 1m44.242s to just pip the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo by a three-hundredths of a second. Interestingly, the Shanghai race winner would set his best on used Supersoft tyres compared to Bottas on fresh Ultrasoft, perhaps suggesting the Milton Keynes outfit hold the advantage.

Force India created plenty of reason for optimism with Sergio Perez moving up to third late on and Esteban Ocon also running well in fifth. 

Lewis Hamilton would be almost a second down on the leading duo in fourth and was one of many drivers to take the various escape roads around the track as getting temperature into the brakes and front tyres proved troublesome.

That would be nothing compared to Max Verstappen, however, as the Dutchman lost control of the rear of his Red Bull under braking for Turn 5 and slid sideways into the barrier, ending his session early.

Ferrari had a muted start with Sebastian Vettel only 10th, while a suspected engine problem left Kimi Raikkonen in the garage for the final half an hour or so.

With the session blighted by numerous yellow flags with the drivers running off track, the order was mixed with Fernando Alonso seventh for McLaren with Sergey Sirotkin eighth in the Williams.

Back on a circuit characterised by straights and technical corners, Pierre Gasly also ran well in ninth for Toro Rosso.

Lance Stroll, who finished on the podium in Baku last year, hinted that a better weekend for Williams could be in store in 11th ahead of Brendon Hartley.

Both Renault drivers saw their sessions ended early by large lock-ups wrecking their tyres, leaving usual top 10 suspects Nico Hulkenberg in 13th and Carlos Sainz at the bottom of the timesheet.

Haas' old weakness under braking also re-emerged with Romain Grosjean running off on several occasions. The Frenchman would only be 14th fastest with teammate Kevin Magnussen, who was involved in a brief battle with Gasly on the main straight, down in 18th.

The two Sauber's ran 16th and 17th with Stoffel Vandoorne stranded in the garage due to a mechanical issue and ending 18th.  

Formula 1's governing body, the FIA, has issued a new directive aimed at restricting the use of special engine modes for the purpose of increasing exhaust gases for aerodynamic benefit.

The use of the air flow from the exhaust to increase downforce at the rear of the car is nothing new and has seen F1's rulemakers consistently try to limit such concepts.

After switching to a single exit pipe in 2014 to banning monkey seats for this year, teams do still focus on using the exhaust for aerodynamic gain with Renault the most notable due to their angled exit pipe towards the underneath of the rear wing.

Speculation now hints that Ferrari has a unique system but only with Sebastian Vettel as the German has a third paddle located on the back of his steering wheel, while Kimi Raikkonen does not.

A former member of the Scuderia and now the head of single seaters at the FIA, Nikolas Tombazis, responded with the latest directive ahead of this weekend's Azerbaijan GP.

“We do not accept that engine modes specifically designed to increase the exhaust flow in corners are permissible," he said in a message later revealed to the media.

“To be permissible, such flows should be the result of settings that genuinely increase the performance or reliability of the power unit, and not contrived to increase the exhaust flow.”

With no way of completely regulating the matter, Tombazis claimed all related matters would be dealt with on a "case-by-case basis", however, an effort is being made to make the issue completely irrelevant for next year.

“For 2019, we intend to overcome this issue by acting on the exhaust position,” he revealed. “This matter was discussed in the last TWG [Technical Working Group], but we do not feel that a sufficient solution was found.

“Hence, we intend to have a discussion on this topic in the next TWG, with the aim to achieve an exhaust position that clearly prevents any direct aerodynamic gain, thus eliminating the need for checks on engine modes.”

On a separate topic, the FIA has also given the go-ahead for teams to mount their mirrors on the Halo cockpit device given certain criteria are met.

“We expect that you will be able to satisfy us that the installation is sufficiently rigid to ensure that the mirror does not vibrate too much, which would limit driver visibility," a separate directive read.

“We will not accept a dual mirror mounting (halo and traditional survival cell), as this could cause delays in the event a rescue team had to remove the halo following an accident."