Ferrari takes FP2 control as Norris hits the wall in Baku

Ferrari stamped its authority on Friday in Baku, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc locking out the top two in Free Practice 2 while McLaren endured a session to forget.

Sunshine in Baku was a thing of the past when Free Practice 2 got underway, with windy conditions ebbing and flowing as the drivers gradually ventured out of the pitlane in Azerbaijan.

Hoping for a smoother start to his FP2 campaign after engine troubles clouded Oscar Piastri’s first hour of practice, the McLaren driver put his best foot forward on the soft compound tyre to record the fastest initial lap.

As the competition rolled in, however, the Australian fell down the order, despite personal best sectors filling the attempts that followed.

After his teammate’s heavy run-in with the wall, Piastri came close to replicating the damage acquired by the #4 when he himself brushed the barriers.

Instructed to “drive slow” on his way back to the pitlane, the McLaren crew checked over the Car #81 and gave him the all clear, sending Piastri back out onto the 6km circuit with scuff marks to show for his Turn 15 contact.

Circulating on the soft compound tyre, Piastri fell as low as P17 before taking a minor step up to P11, however, that wasn’t the worst of his concerns when he was noted by the stewards for a yellow flag infringement, set to be investigated post-session.

Being pipped by Carlos Sainz shortly after setting his fastest lap of the session, Piastri settled into his final FP2 position in P12 thanks to a time of 1:42.295s.

Looking to build upon his top ten finish during FP1, Liam Lawson had a scrappy first lap to start Free Practice 2 when the #30 locked up into Turn 15, relying on the run-off area, which resulted in yellow flags.

After the minor scare, it took Lawson over ten minutes to record his first representative time in FP2, with the RB driver soon jumping into the top five once again with a flying time of 1:42.656s.

While in the pitlane, Lawson dropped to the border of the top ten. 

Making his return on the medium compound tyre, the #30 jumped to a session-high position of P4, coming within half a tenth of his former Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen, who held onto the final top three position.

With 15 minutes remaining, the Kiwi ventured back to the pitlane to make the switch to a fresh set of C5s, a compound he conducted his first long runs on to round out the session in P7.

Still working to clear the cobwebs of judging braking points, the run-off areas at Turns 8 and 15 continued to save many drivers from a damaged end to the session.

Also testing his limits was Charles Leclerc, who, despite making “quite hard” contact with the barriers on two occasions, led an early Ferrari 1-2 with a benchmark time of 1:41.786s.

Sporting flow-vis paint on the rear wing of his SF-25, Lewis Hamilton soon inverted the teammates’ order to jump 0.243s clear of the Monegasque, who had returned to the pitlane for a checkover of his bruised car. 

The #16 momentarily rejoined the session, however, the Baku City Circuit was soon empty when every driver returned to the pitlane at the halfway mark of FP2.

Sitting as the third fastest driver, Lando Norris was one of the first to return to the track, sporting a fresh set of soft compound tyres as he looked to reduce the six-tenths margin to P1.

Pushing too hard to do so proved terminal for Norris’ MCL39 when the Brit slid into the wall at Turn 2, breaking his rear suspension on impact to limp back to the pitlane.

With Norris out of the picture, George Russell put his illness to the side as he made his way into the top three, sitting at a four-tenth deficit to the lead Ferrari before a lack of grip almost led to Car #63 making contact with the wall.

Dropping their guard, sprinklings of carbon fibre continued to appear around the circuit as almost every driver had a brush with the wall, while Ollie Bearman had his second trip into the run-off area as long-run programs kicked off towards the end of FP2.

Forming the back half of the leading Ferrari 1-2, Leclerc also had a moment of his own at Turn 4, pirouetting out of the escape road after out-braking himself in the closing moments.

The incident left the timesheets unchanged, though, with Hamilton ending Friday’s running with the fastest overall time of 1:41.293s.

Leclerc trailed his seven-time world championship-winning teammate by just 0.074s as the chequered flag waved in Azerbaijan, while Mercedes’ Russell sat a further four-tenths back in P3.

It was a session to forget for McLaren, who is now tasked with a repair job on the #4’s side of the garage before final practice takes place tomorrow, while Red Bull also failed to step up to the plate.

Making a surprise appearance within the top four was Bearman, who, despite a handful of mistakes throughout the hour, rounded out Friday’s FP2 with a time of 1:41.891s to finish ahead of Verstappen.

With more pace to unlock ahead of Qualifying at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, a potentially damp Free Practice 3 will kick off at 18:30 AEST on Saturday.

Image: Scuderia Ferrari

Free Practice 2 Results: 

2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Weekend Schedule (AEST):

Friday, September 19th:

FP1: 18:30 – 19:30

FP2: 22:00 – 23:00

Saturday, September 20th:

FP3: 18:30 – 19:30

Qualifying: 22:00 – 23:00

Sunday, September 21st:

Race: 21:00

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