Max P2 after the first day in Azerbaijan: 'A good start of the weekend'

Published on 04 June 2021 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen finished second fastest on the first day in the run up to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. On the Baku Street Circuit, Red Bull Racing team mate Sergio Perez topped the board. Ferrari  running Carlos Sainz came in third. His team mate at Ferrari Charles Leclerc and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the top five.

“We had a good start of the weekend”, says Max after the second free practice in Baku. “The car felt good in the first free practice and I felt very comfortable.”

Max continues: “We changed a couple of things for the second session to see if that would be better but I think we went backwards. We’ll have a look this evening in which direction we need to be heading, but for the team it was a good day.”

Regarding if he was suffering from the wind, the Dutchman replies: “Yes, it was very windy which is never easy, but it’s the same for everyone. It makes driving here a bit more interesting.

“So far we are looking very strong so I am very happy with that, let’s wait and see what we can do tomorrow”, Max concludes.

At the start of the second free practice Esteban Ocon is the first one to venture out on track. Kimi Raikkonen follows the Frenchman moments later. Soon the entire field is out on track. The weather has barely changed compared to this morning. The track temperature is still around 50 degrees C, while the ambient temperature is about 27 degrees.

Max is on his way on a fresh set of the mediums. After his first timed lap, we see that the Dutchman is second fastest, a tenth of a second behind AlphaTauri’s Gasly. Nicholas Latifi triggers a red flag after about fifteen minutes. The engine in his Williams has halted and the car needs to be retrieved from the run-off area at Turn fifteen. Meanwhile the clock keeps on ticking.

At 16:19 local time, the track is cleared again. Both Ferraris waste no time and immediately head out on track. As oppose to the start of the session the drivers emerge on track with a set of the soft compound tyres strapped on. A sign that they are slowly heading towards simulating qualifying.

With still 36 minutes on the clock, Max heads out again and we see he has also gone for a fresh set of the softs on his RB16B. The same goes for his team mate Perez who is a few hundred meters ahead of him on track. Perez makes it to P3. Max is unable to put in a decent lap time as Leclerc plants his Ferrari in the wall at Turn fifteen. The Monegasque is able to drive back to the pits on his own but marshalls are forced to retrieve the front wint at the tyre wall, this brings out a virtual safety car.

When the track is cleared again, Perez jumps to P1. Max has been able to run in free air by then and slots in behind the Mexican in P2. Mercedes haven’t shed their Monaco form yet given the eleventh and sixteenth positions for Hamilton and Bottas respectively.

During the final fifteen minutes, the teams have shifted focus towards the long runs. This second practice hasn’t been plain sailing for Mick Schumacher. Previously the young German had an oil pressure issue but now apparently there is something wrong with the recharging of the battery.

With still ten minutes to go, only Schumacher and Latifi are still inside. The rest of the field is busy with a race simulation. Times are not getting bettered and with this the first day in Baku comes to an end.

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Results second free practice Azerbaijan: