Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll returned to Azerbaijan for Formula One's second successive street race – this weekend around the demanding and high-speed roads of Baku.
The drivers completed a combined 99 laps of the difficult city track and collected plenty of data for Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One™ Team ahead of the weekend's racing.
Sebastian
Sebastian started FP1 on the Soft compound tyre to get the AMR22 ready for Baku. After setting a best initial time of 1.50.002, he switched to Medium tyres after 10 laps.
With the fresh compound, Sebastian recorded a fastest time of 1.47.970, finishing in 14th position and with 22 laps on the leaderboard.
Azerbaijan GP
Long straights, high speeds and close brushes with the wall make the Azerbaijan Grand Prix an action-packed race.
Returning for FP2 again on the Medium tyres, Sebastian continued to improve his lap-times, quickly taking over two seconds off his previous best. The strong winds contributed to a brief lock-up into Turn One, although the run-off area meant he swiftly rejoined the track.
After switching back to Soft tyres, Sebastian started posting top-ten lap-times and finished the session in 11th place with a time of 1.44.781 after a further 27 laps.
“We had an encouraging first day today. It was incredibly windy during FP1, which meant it was very easy to lock a wheel under braking or run up an escape road. I had a couple of lock-ups but otherwise it was a pretty smooth day.
“We spent the first session working through a few balance issues, but the car started to come towards us in FP2. I think we are in a solid position for qualifying tomorrow.”
Lance
Lance started on the Soft compound tyre but an early touch with the barrier at Turn 15 saw him return to the pits to check for damage. After a clean bill of health, Lance then recorded a best time of 1.50.862.
Changing onto the Medium compound tyre after lap 10 then allowed him to make strong progress up the leaderboard, finishing the FP1 session in 12th with a fastest time of 1.47.847, having completed 24 laps.
A mix of stints between the Medium and Soft tyres in FP2 saw lap-times continue to fall. Lance used the escape road at Turn 15 to avoid locking up into the corner, but otherwise enjoyed a clean second session.
He finished after a further 26 laps in 13th place with a time of 1.44.874.
“We had a successful day of practice and have already learned a lot and achieved some good lap-times ready for the rest of the weekend.
“Although I had a brush with the barrier, thankfully it did not affect our running as nothing was broken, so I managed to get away with it. It was all part of getting into the rhythm of the circuit and finding the limits.
“I really enjoy this track and I think it is a fun challenge, so I am very much looking forward to getting back out here tomorrow.”
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