Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has emerged the fastest to claim the lead ahead of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen in Azerbaijan Grand Prix practice. Leclerc would enter qualifying as the most likely to gain pole position.
But Lewis Hamilton’s misery appears to be endless as the Mercedes driver’s poor form continues at the Baku street circuit. It was expected that Mercedes would improve its performance after offering a stellar performance at the Spanish GP, but that is not happening as Hamilton and George Russell failed to pull off anything significant. Notably, Russell had finished the race in third place at Barcelona as his teammate Hamilton managed to find his name in fifth place.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez appears to be the closest to giving a tough fight to Leclerc. The Mexican took the lead in the opening practice session but Leclerc returned to claim a quarter-second lead in FP2. After securing a sensational victory at the Monaco GP, Perez will be hoping to continue his good run at the Azerbaijan GP.
Perez’s teammate Max Verstappen, who finished third at the Monaco GP, had to deal with a shaky rear wing in the opening practice session. The 24-year-old driver made a strong comeback, but that was not enough to beat his teammate Perez.
“I’m looking forward to returning to Baku, after last year we have some unfinished work,” Verstappen told the Independent.
“It is a difficult track with large braking zones and a tight run off, finding the best set-up for the car will be difficult in terms of making sure we get the right wing level. It will also be interesting to see if we can We can improve our one lap performance for qualifying as we have been lacking a bit,” Verstappen added.
Alpine’s Fernando Alonso finished fourth while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fifth.
Red Bull’s talent in the current season is evident from the overall standings as two of their drivers are in the top-three. Red Bull driver Verstappen currently finds himself in the top spot with 125 points with four wins and five podiums. His teammate Perez is third with 110 points. Second-placed Leclerc has so far amassed 116 points, two wins and four podiums.
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