F1 News

Ferrari dominate crash-heavy FP2 in Baku!

Ferrari dominate crash-heavy FP2 in Baku!

26-04-2019 15:30
7
Author profile picture

Nicolás Quarles van Ufford

Ferrari have flexed their muscles in FP2 on Friday afternoon in Baku, as the Italian team topped the timesheet with a Charles Leclerc-led one two with the session stopped twice because of a red flag.

It was a very busy session at the Baku City Circuit, with the cancellation of FP1 leaving the teams with a lack of data. As soon as the light turned green at the end of the pitlane, the entire grid went out for laps.

What caught the eye immediately is the number of lock-ups. Almost every driver ran wide at some corner or needed the run-off area to slow down. This could be because of set-up errors due to a lack of practice in FP1, or it could be because of tricky track conditions.

Ferrari instantly took the lead in the session, with both Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel sparring for the number one position. The former eventually set the best time, however, with a 1:42.872 proving the best time of the day.

Vettel followed three-tenths behind, and Mercedes couldn't even get within six-tenths. Lewis Hamilton ended in P3, with Max Verstappen wedging his Red Bull between the two Mercedes cars late as he ended P4.

Binning it

The highlights, or lowlights of the session, however, were the two crashes. Lance Stroll was the first one to cause a red flag as he completely misjudged turn 3 and rammed the barrier on his front left, costing more precious time of the session.

In the final 25 minutes, birthday boy Daniil Kvyat caused another red flag, as he lost the tail of his Toro Rosso exiting turn 7, one of the tighter corners of the track. The Russian's car was on fire as well, and it proved to delay the session by seven more minutes, as time keeps ticking under red flag conditions.

Conclusion

So, Ferrari are quickest, and Stroll and Kvyat need to be more careful. Are Mercedes sandbagging, though? We've seen it before! We'll have to wait and see tomorrow!