LEWIS HAMILTON and Max Verstappen head to Azerbaijan as they do battle again in an enthralling F1 campaign.
Hamilton had been in control of the championship but slipped behind Verstappen after a seventh placed finish in Monaco.
Get all the latest F1 updates from Baku here…
F1 CHIEFS’ WING WATCH
Red Bull’s ‘flexi-wing’ at the back of their car will be monitored by F1 bosses this weekend ahead of a potential ban.
Mercedes are concerned their rivals are gaining an unfair advantage by having a rear wing that drops down to reduce drag on the straights.
Max Verstappen has dismissed complaints as jealously.
He stated: “I can understand people complaining… but it’s all within the rules so far. There’s nothing wrong with it.
“Of course, they try to slow us down.”
But Lewis Hamilton said: “It doesn’t really matter what I think about it, it is what it is. They’re approved based on current testing methods and they’re valid this weekend. So we can’t do much against it.”
SINGAPORE GP CANCELLED
The Singapore Grand Prix has been called off this year leaving F1 chiefs desperately searching for a new race.
Motor racing bosses are looking at options to replace the event from October 1-3.
Travel complications have put paid to this year’s Singapore Grand Prix The Marina Bay Street Circuit was due to host round 16 of this year’s championship.
But travel issues to the Asian city state have forced F1 bosses to look elsewhere.
Singapore has kept Covid infections relatively low thanks to their strict border controls and test-and-trace system.
FOUR FOR LEW FORMATION?
World champ Lewis Hamilton is gunning for his fourth win in the first six grands prix – whilst Max Verstappen hopes to level it at 3-3.
NO BOTT-ER
Valtteri Bottas has remained coy on his Mercedes future by indicating his focus is on the current season.
Both Bottas, 31, and Lewis Hamilton, 36, have contracts with Mercedes that are due to expire at the end of 2021.
When asked about his future ahead of Friday practice, he said: “I’m quite open minded.
“Like in life in general, you need to always take opportunities and you just never know what is around the corner. And that’s also, having clear goals, what you’re pushing for and that has taken me this far.
“I always want to kind of follow my heart and follow my passion and I am still enjoying Formula One very much and racing at the front. I really, really love it.”
HAMILTON REACTION
Lewis Hamilton is very calm and matter-of-fact as he speaks after practice, admitting Mercedes have more to do and yet are far from out of it.
He said: “I feel like I’m driving well and the car felt better in FP1.
“We’re definitely quite a chunk down and everyone will be scratching their heads into how we can improve.
“The long run was better.
“The car is limited, there’s no more grip, but we’ll work at it and I don’t really know why we are where we are.”
Credit: Splash OFF YU POP
Yuki Tsunoda has been ordered to move from Milton Keynes and sent to Italy to get his career back on track.
The 21-year-old has gone in reverse since finishing ninth in his first race of the season and the AlpaTauri man was told to relocate to Faenza to be closer to his team to help his development.
He said: “I got told [to move] while I was in Monaco. When I crashed in FP2 it was not a good thing. And I think Red Bull wasn’t happy after that.
“It’s good to have a little bit of a big change for me, because I think the last three races or four races, I haven’t had good races and to change something, you know, you need [to do things] a bit different.
“I didn’t enjoy last week, but it is what it is. And I think the engineer meeting especially, that makes a very good understanding to the car.
“But mainly the gym session, the time is much, much longer than usual. So hopefully I will not be like a bodybuilder at the end of the year.”
WHAT WENT WRONG FOR MERCEDES?
Stuck in 11th and 16th would be a panic result for the Mercs at the best of times, but after their Monaco woe this truly is a worrying situation.
Lewis Hamilton had a hot lap ruined by Charles Leclerc but was nowhere near with only slightly older tyres when he got it together.
He complained: “I’m not going to go faster, I don’t know where the time is.”
Meanwhile Valtteri Bottas was simply never able to put in a truly quick time on the Softs, having been nowhere in FP1 too.
It could be a matter of warming up the tyres in time plus a sense that much of the pack has been catching the Mercs up more generally.
Toto Wolff has cancelled his media duties with Sky F1 – no such delays for Christian Horner who jumps straight in front of the cameras.
TOP TEN IN FP2
1. PER – 1:42.115
2. VER – 0.1 seconds back
3. SAI – Only 0.128 off first in more good news for Ferrari
4. LEC – Crashed and lost front wing at Turn 15, wrecking many others’ laps
5. GAS – Most laps (26)
6. ALO
7. GIO – Alfa Romeo surprise fastest in quick Sector 3
8. NOR
9. OCO
10. TSUCredit: Getty CHECO FLAG
It is all smiles for Red Bull and all question marks for Mercedes after second practice in Baku.
Sergio Perez takes first place ahead of Max Verstappen, who have backed up good qualifying simulations with quick race runs.
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc in the Ferraris are third and fourth, respectively, leaving Lewis Hamilton 11th. Yikes.
WIDE OF THE MARK
Valtteri Bottas and Yuki Tsunoda go wide to keep our ‘run-off area’ tally ticking over.
Max Verstappen would have joined them had Turn 3 had a run-off area – instead he very nearly drifts into the wall. Five minutes to go.
Credit: AP ‘DONE!’
Nikita Mazepin cracks a joke as he fiddles with his steering wheel under instruction from his Haas team.
Told to do the configurations whenever he is free, the Russian immediately shoots back: “Done!”
He then jokes: “We’re not in Monaco anymore!”
SCHUMACHER ISSUES
More problems for the Haas as Mick Schumacher slumps back into the pits reporting of issues.
We have 15 minutes of running and race simulations are likely to be the order of the day.
LECLERC BACK ON TRACK
Those Mercedes woes have kept Ferrari in P3 and P4.
Charles Leclerc is all fixed up after his Turn 15 crash and racing again.
Credit: AFP PAST HALFWAY
We’re into the last 25 minutes of a session best summed up by the phrase higgledy-piggledy.
Max Verstappen has gone second, 0.1 seconds off team-mate Sergio Perez.
Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas is 16th without a hot lap to speak of and Lewis Hamilton 11th and complaining on the radio.
He says: “I’m not going to go faster, I don’t know where the time is.”
TAKE TWO
The likes of Lewis Hamilton are back on track pushing in qualifying sims.
However, those Soft tyres are no longer as fresh as they were five minutes ago and lighting them up is difficult.
Hamilton goes eighth and Sergio Perez takes top spot as Pierre Gasly runs wide at Turn 15.
FRONT ON
Charles Leclerc locked his right-front up and squirted straight into the barrier late on in what was looking a good lap.
Without a front-wing, he reverses out safely and heads back to the pits.
A Virtual Safety Car is ordered and basically everyone else’s hot laps on fresh tyres are ruined…
IN THE WALL
And that is Charles Leclerc in the barrier at Turn 15!
LECLERC UPPING THE ANTE
Qualifying simulations are underway and Carlos Sainz leads Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari one-two that is likely to change as new sets of the Softs are bolted on.
BACK UNDERWAY
Nicholas Latifi’s car sounded like a Viking God rudely awoken from a lie-in as it broke down for that red flag.
It’s now been moved off the track and, with 41 minutes to go, practice has resumed.
WILLIAMS WOE
Still 45 minutes left in the session – and the clock will keep ticking while the car is recovered.
But that may not be a quick fix for Williams, who need all the track time they can get in the hunt for a championship point.
RED FLAG
We have a stoppage after Nicholas Latifi ran out of engine.
The Canadian’s Williams dribbles into a run-off area, manages to reverse out, and then comes to a halt on track.
FERRARI FURY
Nikita Mazepin and Carlos Sainz jostle for position on the main straight.
The Russian complains over the radio that he is being blamed for not getting out of the way while nobody gets out of his way.
THAT DIDN’T TAKE LONG
Speak of the devil… The run-off area at Turn 1 is made use of by Valtteri Bottas.
The Finn, whose plane to Azerbaijan refused to take off until late last night, runs wide and pulls out of a lap before it really begins.
Lando Norris runs wide shortly after before Sebastian Vettel enjoys a tank-slapper at Turn 16.
WHAT’S IN STORE THIS HOUR?
Expect plenty more traffic problems and darts into the run-off areas, if FP1 is anything to go by.
Drivers have largely kept it out of the wall so far but any street circuit is vulnerable to some concrete disruption.
We will also see some practice race runs as cars fill up on fuel and put in an extended run of laps, plus a few hot lap attempts on the Soft tyre.
LIGHTS OUT
Free practice 2 is underway. Let’s do this!
Credit: Getty
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
