Battle at the front: Azerbaijan Friday Report
- Maham Mir
- Sep 19
- 4 min read
Written by Maham Mir, Edited Marit Everett
Formula One returned after a fortnight’s break on the shores of the Caspian Sea for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. As one of the most entertaining and unique tracks on the calendar, expectations for the drivers and fans alike are high.
The Baku City Circuit, with two DRS zones as well as long straights and distinctive corners, requires the highest levels of driver confidence. For all 20 drivers on the grid, this race weekend provides another opportunity to score points and for McLaren, the opportunity to defend their World Constructors' Championship title and set a new F1 record.
Practice one: McLaren make their mark
In their bid to win the WCC for McLaren this weekend, both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri hit the ground running with a 1-2 finish in FP1. Norris took the top spot on the timesheets with a 1:42.704 with teammate Piastri 0.310s off the fastest lap of the first hour of the race weekend. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the top three as he finished FP1 0.552s off the pace.
It was not entirely smooth running for the field or championship leader Piastri, who was forced to return to the pitlane after an early radio message expressing concern about the power unit in his MCL39. During this time, Alex Albon explained on the radio that he had lost one of his mirrors and George Russell expressed that he could smell “burning” coming from his brakes.
An early red flag after 13 minutes saw the session stopped and teams forced to cede valuable running time after Carlos Sainz’s Williams drove over a kerb and dislodged a part of it. Despite the issues for both Williams cars, they finished FP1 in the top 10 with Albon in fifth and Sainz in seventh.
With 20 minutes remaining in the session, red flag conditions were lifted and all 20 drivers, including Piastri, returned to the track for some all important running. More yellow flags followed in the final stages of FP1 after Isack Hadjar’s Racing Bulls, Esteban Ocon’s Haas and Max Verstappen's Red Bull were forced into the run-off area.
Although Leclerc enjoyed success in his Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton seemingly struggled as he finished the session in P13 after he clipped the wall near turn 5 and was forced into a front-wing change. Hamilton’s former Mercedes teammate Russell ended the session in fourth despite the brakes and bottoming issues.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto ended the session at the bottom of the timesheets; the latter driver was noted for a possible red flag infringement. The session hinted at the excitement and chaos that the Baku City Circuit has been known to provide in recent years.
Practice two: Ferrari fight back
Ferrari built on early success in FP1 with a 1-2 finish in the second practice session. Hamilton was the lead Ferrari with a 1:41.293 while his teammate Leclerc slotted into second with a marginal gap of 0.074s. Russell completed the top three with a bigger gap of 0.477s between himself and his former Mercedes teammate.
Yellow flags greeted the drivers as they made their way for the second practice session after Lawson’s Racing Bulls and Hamilton’s Ferrari experienced lock-ups and were forced into the run-off areas.
Although Norris set the pace in FP1 and emerged as the provisional pace-setter with a 1:42.199 in FP2, he hit the wall and momentarily brought out yellow flags as he brought his MCL39 back to the garage. Piastri's McLaren also brushed the wall but was able to emerge with no damage. However, the Australian is going to be investigated for a yellow flag infringement as he later failed to slow down sufficiently into Turn 1 when Gasly was in the run-off area. Norris finished the session in P10 while Piastri followed behind in P12.
Mercedes also showed promise as Russell and Antonelli were the next team behind the Ferraris. The silver arrows finished FP2 in third and fourth, with Russell in the lead Mercedes on this occasion after being 0.477s off the pace and Antonelli 0.486s off the pace.
Williams were unable to replicate their success from FP1 as Albon finished in P9 and Sainz finished in P11. Comparatively, Haas showed better pace as Ollie Bearman finished in P5 and Ocon finished in P8.
The second Friday session showed that it is still all to play for between the top teams, particularly the battle between McLaren and Ferrari, and the midfield battle will certainly continue this weekend with teams like Williams, Haas and Sauber jostling for track position.
Looking ahead
The fight for pole position, and possibly the race win on Sunday, seems to be between McLaren and Ferrari. Both teams will be looking over their shoulders and hoping they have what it takes to beat the other to the line. McLaren are required to outscore Ferrari by nine points in order to clinch the title this weekend. Norris and Piastri will be hoping for smoother practice and qualifying sessions tomorrow while Leclerc and Hamilton will aiming to maintain their pace.
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