FP2: Perez heads Red Bull 1-2 in second practice with Hamilton only 11th quickest in Baku
Baku, June 4, AZERTAC
Sergio Perez continued Red Bull's pace setting form on Friday afternoon, finishing ahead of team mate Max Verstappen and third-place Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz in second practice for the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - with Lewis Hamilton down in 11th, according to the Formula1.
The session was punctuated by multiple incidents, especially early on, as grip was at a premium at Baku. Williams' Nicholas Latifi (P20) brought out a red flag after 13 minutes with a loss of power, and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc (P4) brought out a brief Virtual Safety Car halfway through after he hit the barriers and ripped off his front wing at Turn 15.
Perez went fastest on soft tyres after the VSC for Leclerc's crash, the Mexican's benchmark of 1m42.115s putting him 0.101s faster than FP1 leader Max Verstappen.
But it was Ferrari who were fastest before that VSC, as Carlos Sainz set a quick time on medium tyres, followed by Leclerc. Thirty-minutes in, Leclerc locked-up heavily and crashed into the Turn 15 barriers, but recovered to the pits for a new nose and was able to carry on to end up fourth. When the field all bolted on softs, Sainz dropped to third.
The Practice 2 results of the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2021 are as follows:
1 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull Racing 1:42.115
2 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing +0.101s
3 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari +0.128s
4 Charles LECLERC Ferrari +0.321s
5 Pierre GASLY AlphaTauri +0.419s
