Lewis Hamilton Photo: photosport
Lewis Hamilton led a Ferrari one-two at Formula 1's Azerbaijan Grand Prix while McLaren title rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri hit the wall and New Zealander Liam Lawson placed in the top 10.
Seven-times world champion Hamilton, yet to stand on the Formula 1 podium since he joined the Italian team in January, lapped the Baku street circuit in one minute 41.293 seconds in the second session.
Leclerc, on pole position in Baku for the past four seasons without once winning the race, was 0.074 slower.
McLaren had finished one-two in the red-flagged first session, with Norris ahead of championship leader Piastri while Hamilton clipped the barriers, suffered a puncture and damaged his car's front wing.
"I would say P1 (first practice) was a bit of a mess," said Hamilton of a session that was halted for some 25 minutes to repair kerb damage.
"This is a circuit where you have to have mega confidence on the brakes and I had some problems with the brakes.
"We made some changes going into P2 and the brakes finally were working perfect and I was able to really make some big advantage in terms of gaining on the brakes.
"Really happy to see the progress... we're really starting to see the progress come through."
Tough time for McLaren
The McLaren drivers had a tougher time in practice two with Norris losing control at turn four and smashing his car's rear suspension.
"A costly one, especially here," said Norris of a mistake that cost him track time and had him nursing the stricken car back to the pits. "It was feeling good until then.
"I'm behind on the learnings now, a scrappy session from both my side and Oscar's side, he seemed to be struggling a bit with the car as well."
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri of McLaren. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Piastri, last year's winner in Baku, suffered a power unit problem in first practice and then had his own brush with the wall - without damage - to finish 12th on the timesheets.
"A bit tricky," said the Australian.
"I think the pace is there, it's just not the easiest to get the most out of it at the moment, so that's probably just the main thing."
Piastri is 31 points clear of Norris with eight rounds remaining and while that battle is set to run, McLaren can clinch the constructors' title for the second year in a row on Sunday and with a record seven races to spare.
Mercedes' George Russell, who was unwell on Thursday and missed the scheduled media day, completed the top three in practice two but 0.477 off Hamilton's time. Teammate Kimi Antonelli was fourth.
Lawson impressive
Racing Bulls' Lawson produced two top-10 finishes, following his ninth in the opening session with seventh, nearly two seconds faster.
New Zealand driver Liam Lawson. Photo: photosport
It was first time on the tricky circuit as a Formula 1 driver, having raced there in Formula Two three years ago.
"It's very different to what I remember here from Formula 2," Lawson said.
"But I think they did a good job at cleaning the track. It's started quite grippy, we're doing qualifying times, nearly. Maybe even faster, which helps a lot.
"Monza was difficult for us, but not a true representation of pace. We just had a tough weekend, but had everything gone well, we should have been in the top 10.
"We're pushing for that, and the car's been very consistent recently. There's no reason why we shouldn't be [in the top 10], we just have to keep chasing it with everyone else."
- Reuters
