WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED
WHAT WE LEARNED
Charles Leclerc was fastest in free practice with Ferrari, leading the TL2 times on the soft P Zero Red. Red Bull's Sergio Pérez was fastest in TL1 on the same compound.
The cars were affected by gusts of wind that also changed direction, altering the aerodynamic balance. Temperatures were around 25 degrees ambient and 34 degrees on track during TL2.
Thechallenge in Baku, with its long straights and tight corners, is usually to balance the tire temperatures at the front and rear. In today's conditions, with the 18-inch 2022 tires, there were no such problems - with all the drivers achieving consistent tire warm-up and no graining.
At the moment, there is an estimated performance difference of about 0s6 seconds between the hard White P Zero and the medium Yellow P Zero, as well as between the medium and soft. However, the high degree of track evolution makes it difficult to get an accurate div Leclerc's benchmark time in TL2 was more than two seconds faster than Perez's best time in TL1.
Mario Isola, sports director:
Formula 2 drivers used the PZero Purple super-soft tires in qualifying (named alongside the P Zero Yellow medium this weekend). With track temperatures of almost 40 degrees, it was important to manage the softer compound, taking advantage of the opportunities that presented themselves. Pole was secured in the final minute by Hitech's Juri Vips after a red flag. He was more than five-tenths of a second faster than last year's pole time.