Mercedes driver George Russell finished Thursday’s Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix practice on top after comfortably leading FP2. Russell held off Mercedes team-mate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli as the Silver Arrows enjoyed a comfortable cushion on the fast streets of Baku. Since the race took place on Saturday to observe a national holiday on Sunday, on-track proceedings began on Thursday. On the 6km high-speed street circuit stretching along the Caspian Sea, the red flag appeared after 20 minutes for a crash by Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad, who touched the overhanging wall of Turn 9 in the narrow Castle section, part of the UNESCO heritage site around the circuit. The session resumed mid-race after clearing up some debris, but in the case of Oliver Bearman, the second half of FP2 was short-lived, with the Haas driver reporting a power unit failure as he exited the pits. It took until the entire paddock moved towards single-lap races on soft tires for drivers to challenge Verstappen’s initial benchmark on medium tyres. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc dropped below the Dutchman’s time for the first time after 25 minutes with a 1:44.473, before FP1 leader Russell convincingly took command with a 1:43.759, seven tenths quicker than the Ferrari. But Mercedes still had more ions in that tank, as it looks disturbingly fast around the energy-hungry Baku City Circuit. Russell took another generous bite out of his best time to set a lap of 1:43.347, with Antonelli in second place, five tenths behind, after missing a large part of the first practice with a mechanical problem. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images Verstappen overtook Leclerc for third, but was still more than eighth-tenths behind Russell as Mercedes ended the day with a 1-2 result. Hamilton was two tenths behind Leclerc in fifth place, followed by the first McLaren car in the hands of Lando Norris. McLaren, which is introducing a major upgrade package aimed at improving low-speed performance, was still optimizing its updated car while Norris was 1.5 seconds behind without establishing a representative qualifying simulation. Pierre Gasly split the two McLarens in seventh ahead of Oscar Piastri, with Isack Hadjar and Esteban Ocon completing the top 10. As well as on-track problems for Lindblad and Bearman, there was more trouble for Aston Martin and Honda, as Fernando Alonso only managed nine laps before being sent to the garage with a suspected power unit oil leak. F1 Azerbaijan GP – FP2 Results Also read: We want to hear from you! Let us know what you would like to see from us in the future. Take our survey: the Autosport.com team
