Leclerc closes Friday ahead in Baku

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari paid back Red Bull in second free practice for the Azerbaijan GP, ​​with Charles Leclerc beating Sergio Perez.

The Monegasque posted a 1m43.224s on his best lap on soft tires and finished 0.248s ahead of the Mexican.

Max Verstappen was third, followed by Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly.

Leclerc held the top spot for much of the hour, but appeared to have a moment of concern in the closing minutes. He questioned whether his engine had a problem, but his engineers assured him everything was fine.

The first practice had been marked by the difficulties that many teams faced with bounces.

The problem has been a common one for Mercedes in 2022, but the silver arrows have apparently improved in FP2, with both drivers riding in the top 10 throughout most of the session.

Following the problem with his rear wing in FP1, Verstappen remained in the garage in the early stages of second practice while the mechanics worked on the component.

He showed good pace when he eventually entered the track, but had a fast lap ruined in the second half of the session when teammate Perez escaped at turn 16 and provoked the yellow flag.

As in the morning, several pilots made mistakes. Lando Norris was first and others like Sebastian Vettel and Kevin Magnussen escaped during the hour.

Not even Leclerc was immune. The Ferrari driver caused a brief yellow flag as he locked his wheels and went straight through Turn 7.

Others could not avoid touching the barriers. Alex Albon hit the wall at turn 17 and had to return to the pits to assess the damage.

AlphaTauri continued to impress and Yuki Tsunoda was particularly strong at a circuit where he had a good result last year. His teammate Gasly also had a solid FP2.

Alpine is also attracting attention. Alonso was competitive again after his fifth place finish in practice one, and like Tsunoda, he will be looking to repeat his arrival in the 2021 points.

Result of the second free practice: