The winner of the Monaco GP with Red Bull, Sergio Pérez, was the fastest in FP1, but was overtaken in FP2 by Leclerc, who was two and a half tenths faster than the Mexican.
F1 Azerbaijan GP 2022 Free Practice 1 results: Pérez ahead of Leclerc
| Cla | Pilot | Chassis | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | Km/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Sergio Perez |
Red Bull | twenty-one | 1,45,476 | 204,888 | ||
| 2 |  Charles Leclerc |
Ferrari | 21 | 1’45.603 | 0.127 | 0.127 | 204.641 |
| 3 |  Max Verstappen |
Red Bull | 25 | 1’45.810 | 0.334 | 0.207 | 204.241 |
| 4 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. |
ferrari | 22 | 1’46.012 | 0.536 | 0.202 | 203,852 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso |
Alpine | 22 | 1’46.571 | 1.095 | 0.559 | 202.783 |
| 6 |  Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes | 21 | 1’46.667 | 1.191 | 0.096 | 202.600 |
| 7 |  Yuki Tsunoda |
AlphaTauri | twenty five | 1’46.696 | 1.220 | 0.029 | 202.545 |
| 8 | George Russell |
Mercedes | 24 | 1’46.705 | 1.229 | 0.009 | 202.528 |
| 9 |  Pierre Gasly |
AlphaTauri | 25 | 1’46,830 | 1,354 | 0.125 | 202,291 |
| 10 | Esteban Ocon |
Alpine | 21 | 1’46.917 | 1.441 | 0.087 | 202.126 |
| 11 | Lando Norris |
McLaren | 19 | 1’47.691 | 2.215 | 0.774 | 200.674 |
| 12 |  Lance Stroll |
Aston Martin | 24 | 1’47.847 | 2.371 | 0.156 | 200.383 |
| 13 |  Kevin Magnussen |
Haas | 24 | 1’47.946 | 2,470 | 0.099 | 200,200 |
| 14 |  Sebastian Vettel |
Aston Martin | 22 | 1’47.970 | 2.494 | 0.024 | 200.155 |
| 15 |  Valtteri Bottas |
Alfa Romeo | 22 | 1’48.078 | 2.602 | 0.108 | 199.955 |
| 16 |  Guanyu Zhou |
Alfa Romeo | twenty four | 1’48.222 | 2.746 | 0.144 | 199.689 |
| 17 |  Alexander Albon |
williams | 22 | 1’48.419 | 2.943 | 0.197 | 199.326 |
| 18 |  Daniel Ricciardo |
McLaren | 22 | 1,48,810 | 3,334 | 0.391 | 198,610 |
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi |
Williams | 7 | 1’50.921 | 5.445 | 2.111 | 194.830 |
| 20 | Mick Schumacher |
Haas | 3 | 1’58.332 | 12.856 | 7.411 | 182.628 |
| see results | |||||||
What happened in Free Practice 1 of the 2022 F1 Azerbaijan GP?
World championship leader Max Verstappen set the pace early on in his Red Bull on medium tyres, posting a 1m46.477s, 68ths ahead of Perez. Ferrari initially used the hard compound, with Leclerc in third position, but more than half a second off the best time.
Switching to the softs, Verstappen dropped to a 1m45.810s, before Pérez set the fastest time of the session with a 1m45.476s, nearly four tenths quicker.
Leclerc slipped between the two Red Bulls with a 1:45.603, 127 thousandths behind Pérez. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fourth, more than half a second behind, while Fernando Alonso was best of the rest in his Alpine, albeit 1.095 seconds off the lead.
Verstappen, whose moving DRS element jerked wildly as it opened, spun at Turn 15.
The session was interrupted by two virtual safety cars, the first by Mick Schumacher’s Haas, which spilled coolant on the track when a water stub broke, and later Nicholas Latifi’s Williams stopped at turn 5, after his electrical system went out and he also had to be rescued by the stewards.
The turn 4 track exit had some guests, such as Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), with the latter reaching the wall at the exit of turn 15. Pierre Gasly, with the AlphaTauri, also suffered a big rubber lock, but did not hit anything.
F1 Azerbaijan GP 2022 Free Practice 2 results: Leclerc responds to Pérez
| Cla | Pilot | Chassis | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | Km/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charles Leclerc |
Ferrari | 24 | 1’43.224 | 209.358 | ||
| two | Sergio Perez |
Red Bull | 22 | 1,43,472 | 0.248 | 0.248 | 208,856 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen |
Red Bull | 18 | 1’43.580 | 0.356 | 0.108 | 208.638 |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso |
Alpine | 22 | 1’44.142 | 0.918 | 0.562 | 207.512 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz Jr. |
ferrari | 25 | 1,44,274 | 1,050 | 0.132 | 207,250 |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly |
AlphaTauri | 26 | 1’44.315 | 1,091 | 0.041 | 207.168 |
| 7 | George Russell |
Mercedes | 26 | 1’44.548 | 1.324 | 0.233 | 206.706 |
| 8 | Yuki Tsunoda |
AlphaTauri | twenty four | 1’44.567 | 1.343 | 0.019 | 206.669 |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon |
Alpine | 24 | 1’44.609 | 1.385 | 0.042 | 206.586 |
| 10 | Lando Norris |
McLaren | 23 | 1’44.771 | 1.547 | 0.162 | 206.267 |
| 11 | Sebastian Vettel |
Aston Martin | 27 | 1’44.781 | 1.557 | 0.010 | 206.247 |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes | 25 | 1’44.874 | 1.650 | 0.093 | 206.064 |
| 13 | Lance Stroll |
Aston Martin | 26 | 1’44.874 | 1.650 | 0.000 | 206.064 |
| 14 | Daniel Ricciardo |
McLaren | 25 | 1’45.059 | 1,835 | 0.185 | 205,701 |
| 15 | Valtteri Bottas |
Alfa Romeo | 25 | 1’45.115 | 1.891 | 0.056 | 205.591 |
| 16 | Guanyu Zhou |
Alfa Romeo | twenty four | 1’45.264 | 2.040 | 0.149 | 205.300 |
| 17 | Kevin Magnussen |
Haas | 26 | 1’45.588 | 2,364 | 0.324 | 204,670 |
| 18 | Alexander Albon |
williams | 13 | 1’46.397 | 3.173 | 0.809 | 203.114 |
| 19 | Mick Schumacher |
Haas | 21 | 1’46.425 | 3.201 | 0.028 | 203.061 |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi |
Williams | 26 | 1’47.218 | 3.994 | 0.793 | 201.559 |
| see results | |||||||
What happened in Free Practice 2 of the 2022 F1 Azerbaijan GP?
All teams started on the medium tire at the start of the session, with Leclerc setting the fastest time thanks to his 1m43.806s, some 30 hundredths ahead of Verstappen, with Pérez another tenth slower.
Leclerc changed to the soft ones and did a 1:43.224. Sainz was on a faster lap, but he locked up at Turn 16 and went wide, spoiling his attempt on the soft tyres.
Pérez was 0.248s slower than Leclerc after his first lap, but went wide at Turn 1 on his second fastest lap. Leclerc blocked and passed at turn 8.
Pérez went out again, this time spoiling the laps of Verstappen and Sainz, who were behind him. Verstappen was finally able to do a lap on used softs but held on to third just ahead of an Alonso who finished fourth. Sainz finished fifth, with a better time on medium tires, beating Gasly.
Leclerc reported a loss of power in the closing minutes of his long run but was assured by the team that he was fine.
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen went straight into Turn 3, while Alex Albon hit the wall and damaged the front right suspension of his Williams. Mick Schumacher went wide at Turn 4, as did Stroll and Sainz at Turn 15.
Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2022 Friday Recap
(Click here if you can’t see it)
