Lewis Hamilton fastest in Azerbaijan Grand Prix FP2 session as Lando Norris finds the wall

Follow us on Google Discover

Ferrari dominated the second practice session of the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with McLaren struggling for grip.

Lewis Hamilton topped the FP2 time sheets ahead of his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, in a weekend where they need to outscore McLaren to keep their championship hopes alive.

McLaren could take the constructors’ title this weekend if Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri can score nine points more than Ferrari. A disappointing session for the Woking-based team saw both drivers out of the top half of the timing sheets at the end of the hour.

Hamilton finished just seven tenths ahead of Leclerc, with George Russell in third place almost half a second behind.

Haas also saw a strong session with Oliver Bearman finishing in P5 ahead of his teammate Esteban Ocon in P8. It was an impressive turnaround for the American outfit, who were near the bottom of the first practice session.

Read more: F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix: how to watch Baku race, schedule and weather as McLaren could clinch championship

Drivers struggle with soft tyre runs during Azerbaijan Grand Prix FP2

The late afternoon session saw cooling temperatures, which should have aided grip during the driver’s qualifying practice runs.

Despite this, drivers really struggled for grip around the Baku City Circuit in the early parts of the session, with Bearman seeing a horrible lock-up at Turn 8. Whilst heading into the super-narrow castle session, the Haas driver had to bail out of the turn before reversing himself back onto the circuit.

Later in the session, Bearman saw a near-identical incident at the corner, once again going down the run-off area and being forced to reverse.

Charles Leclerc also struggled to turn his Ferrari around the track, tapping both sides of his car against the wall in the first 20 minutes of the session. It appeared that Leclerc and his teammate Hamilton were running alternative aero set-ups, but the pair initially held the top spots in the first part of FP2.

The adjusted Turn 15 continued to cause issues in the second practice session, after both Piastri and Albon hit the corner in FP1. Lance Stroll found the corner in FP2, kissing the exit of Turn 15 with his rear tyre, but came away unscathed.

Most drivers appeared to struggle with the soft tyres, with the C6 being unpredictable for grip.

Lando Norris destroys rear suspension after Turn 4 crash

Lando Norris suffered a big shunt at Turn 4, resulting in damage to the rear suspension of his McLaren. Norris appeared to take the corner with too much speed before losing grip and sending him sideways into the barrier.

The Brit managed to limp his car back to the pit lane, but McLaren mechanics will now begin working tirelessly to get Norris back on track for FP3 tomorrow morning.

Within minutes of Norris breaking his suspension, teammate Piastri once again found himself clipping the Turn 15 barrier. Despite looking like a bigger shunt than Norris’, the other McLaren came into the pit lane but was sent back on track, despite some damage to its right rear tyre.

McLaren faced a difficult session on Friday evening, with both drivers struggling for grip. After Norris’ FP2 came to a premature end, Piastri continued to fight with his car. The issues mean that McLaren will not have much data on low-fuel, soft tyre runs to help them with preparing for qualifying tomorrow.

Piastri’s woes were further exacerbated when he was noted for a yellow-flag infringement. The Aussie will visit the race stewards following the session.