Azerbaijan GP: Hamilton tops Ferrari one-two as McLaren duo crash in Practice Two
2PG0ABB Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 19th Mar, 2023. #81 Oscar Piastri (AUS, McLaren F1 Team), #4 Lando Norris (GBR, McLaren F1 Team), F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on March 19, 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by HIGH TWO) Credit: dpa/Alamy Live News
Lewis Hamilton led a Ferrari one-two in a chaotic second practice at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where both McLaren title contenders Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri hit the barriers on Baku’s unforgiving street circuit.
After a lively opening session, the drama continued in the afternoon as Ferrari capitalised while McLaren faltered on a weekend where they could clinch the 2025 Constructors’ Championship.
Norris, who had set the pace in the morning, clipped the wall exiting Turn Four on his seventh lap, damaging his left-rear wheel. His session ended after just 30 minutes as the team wheeled his car back into the garage for repairs.
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“A costly one,” Norris admitted. “It was feeling good until then. I’d rather find the limits like this than not push at all.”
Not long after, championship leader Piastri also ran into trouble, tagging the Tecpro barrier at Turn 15. He was able to continue but failed to complete a proper soft-tyre run and ended up 12th. Adding to his woes, he was summoned to the stewards over an alleged yellow-flag infringement.
With McLaren sidelined, Ferrari seized the spotlight. Hamilton, still chasing his first podium in Ferrari colours after 16 races, delivered a benchmark lap of 1:41.293 on soft tyres—0.074s clear of team-mate Charles Leclerc, who has claimed pole in Baku for the past four years.
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Mercedes trailed by nearly half a second, George Russell edging rookie Kimi Antonelli for third and fourth. Haas delivered one of the surprises of the day as Oliver Bearman set the fifth-fastest time, ahead of Monza winner Max Verstappen, who struggled with several off-track excursions and finished sixth.
Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson impressed in seventh, followed by Esteban Ocon in the second Haas and Williams’ Alex Albon in ninth.
