Mercedes dominates free practice for the Baku GP, Russell fastest in both sessions

George Russell proved elusive on the Baku circuit, achieving the best time in both free practice sessions of the Azerbaijan Formula 1 GP. But it was the entire Mercedes team that stood out over the competition among the tight curves of this city circuit.

In FP1 Andrea Kimi Antonelli had to settle for fifth place due to a hydraulic problem on his W17 which caused him to miss half the session. Having taken to the track late in the next one too, he made a comeback, obtaining the second fastest time on soft tyres, albeit more than half a second behind Russell's 1'43"347. During the lunch break the mechanics intervened extensively to replace the power unit on the world leader's car. However, he does not risk incurring a penalty because the engine fitted had already been used in Monza. Max Verstappen remained in the wake of the Mercedes, at ease between the walls with his Red Bull, despite some grip problems at the rear, the Dutchman took second and third place. Immediately behind this trio were the Ferraris, third and fourth in FP1 and fourth and fifth in FP2, with Charles Leclerc still ahead of Lewis Hamilton, and well behind the second.

In terms of race pace, Red Bull, McLaren (with Oscar Piastri fastest in the morning, then overtaken by Lando Norris) and Ferrari were equal, but Mercedes seemed to be the favorite in both qualifying and the race. Overall, the tests were quite eventful, with several yellow and red flags displayed due to more or less violent contact with the barriers. The hardest impact was taken by Arvid Lindblad, who was too casual between turns 8 and 9. The Briton hit the wall violently twice, causing extensive damage to the right side of his Racing Bulls. Despite the problems with the power unit, Antonelli is optimistic: "It was a compromised day because, with the problems we had, we lost a lot of laps in FP1 and half of FP2, so never ideal - he explains - However, overall, with the laps I did I felt quite good in the car and the feeling was good, even if obviously there is a lot of work to do".

At Ferrari, Leclerc promises battle: "In today's free practice we lacked a bit of pace, so this evening we will have a lot of work to do to reduce the gap. We hope to be more competitive in qualifying tomorrow also because I really like driving on this track." Hamilton echoes him: "It's always a pleasure to drive on this circuit and overall it was a productive day. The preparation of the tires remains an important aspect on which to focus, in particular to be able to consistently bring them into the correct operating window."