Russell dominates Baku FP2 as Hamilton faces impeding investigation

George Russell blitzed the competition in Friday’s second practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where he was half a second quicker than his teammate Kimi Antonelli.

Russell posted a 1:43.347 as he dominated Friday’s action at the Baku street circuit, with Antonelli second ahead of Max Verstappen.

George Russell leads Kimi Antonelli in Azerbaijan GP FP2

FP2 began without Kimi Antonelli as Mercedes had to change his power unit after his car was sprayed with fire retardant when he ground to a halt in FP1 due to a loss of hydraulic pressure. There was better news for Isack Hadjar, as his RB22 was ready after being fitted with a new gearbox in the break between sessions.

Franco Colapinto’s session began with a visit to the Turn 2 run-off area, while Max Verstappen once again set the early pace. The Red Bull driver posted a 1:45.115, to sit 0.069s ahead of Lando Norris.

As the sun began to set over the circuit, the track temperature fell two degrees in the opening 10 minutes, changing the track conditions. Antonelli was the only driver who had not left the pit lane.

While his teammate George Russell traded blows with Verstappen and Norris, the Italian stood at the entrance to his garage, with his helmet, on as he waited for his mechanics to complete the power unit change.

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Verstappen locked up heavily and went straight on at Turn 1.

Red flag! Lindblad clipped the wall at Turn 8 “by a millimetre”, bounced off and hit it again. “I’ve crashed, I’m really sorry,” he told Racing Bulls.

Race Control announced that the session would resume at 16:29 local time, prompting a stampede of cars out of the garages and into the pit lane queue. Antonelli joined the queue for his first lap of the session. All the drivers, except Nico Hulkenberg, were out on the soft Pirelli rubber.

Oliver Bearman’s session ended on his out-lap as he coasted into the Turn 2 run-off area. “My engine switched off. It just broke,” he told Haas.

Antonelli’s first flying lap put him up into sixth place, 1.2s down on Verstappen’s pace-setting medium tyre lap.

Russell hit the front with a 1:43.759, with Charles Leclerc up to second place. Russell was seven-tenths faster than the Ferrari driver. Verstappen split the two, four-tenths slower Russell. Lewis Hamilton improved to fourth, two-tenths slower than his teammate.

Sergio Perez was the latest to highlight the power of the tow as he tagged onto the back of Oscar Piastri’s McLaren and climbed to 11th place.

Liam Lawson was caught out by a slow-moving Hamilton. “Oh my god, that is so dangerous,” he told Racing Bulls as Hamilton was noted for impeding.

Russell extended his advantage in P1 with a 1:43.347, putting eight-tenths between himself and Verstappen. Antonelli joined his teammate at the top of the timesheet in a Mercedes 1-2, but he was half a second slower.

The session ended with Russell quickest of all ahead of Antonelli and Verstappen.

Aston Martin was the slowest team with Lance Stroll 21st on the timesheet and Fernando Alonso, who completed just nine laps due to a suspected oil leak, four-tenths slower than his teammate.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix: FP2 Top Ten

1 George Russell Mercedes 1:43.347
2 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:43.899
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:44.174
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:44.473
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:44.665
6 Lando Norris McLaren 1:44.831
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:44.843
8 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:44.857
9 Isack Hadjar Red Bull 1:44.868
10 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:45.290

The full results from FP2 in Baku

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