F1: Charles Leclerc had a rollercoaster Practice session in Azerbaijan, with Oscar Piastri finishing fifth fastest.
The talk in the build-up to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix focused on McLaren’s resurgence in the face of Red Bull Racing’s struggles.
“We’re quite a long way off,” he said. “I’m having to push way too much to try and get a lap time out of it. While it’s nip and tuck in terms of predicted race pace, that’s almost as good as a victory after the team’s Monza struggles, after which Verstappen declared both championship defences were unrealistic.
“I think is pretty positive,” team boss Christian Horner said. “Monza was a tough weekend for us, but I think out of every negative comes a positive, and I think the negativity of that weekend exposed some key areas of the car that we’ve been grappling with for some time. “Some long hours going in in Milton Keynes at the moment from all the men and women back there, and hopefully we can turn things around.”Pérez arrived in Azerbaijan as the race’s reigning winner but in terrible form, but he’s also Baku’s most successful competitor, winning the race an unprecedented two times. Last year’s event was one of the few times in his RBR career that he’s genuinely had the pace to beat Verstappen.
It’s enlivened in Pérez something we haven’t seen for some time: well-founded optimism that he can be a pole force and maybe even win the grand prix. “We learnt quite a bit. Now it’s just about tidying up the things that we tried, but I think so far we’ve been more competitive this weekend, so that’s a positive,” he said.
Mansell ended his Formula 3 campaign fifth in the standings but has been snapped up by the Trident team for the final three rounds of F2.He’s certainly started with a bang, qualifying 10th at the first time of asking. But Mansell said pure performance wasn’t what he was looking for this weekend, focusing instead on getting the most out of his Formula 2 experience to set himself up for next year.
Oliver Bearman completed his first Friday as a grand prix driver in Baku, finishing FP2 in 10th and only 0.072 behind temporary teammate Nico Hülkenberg in an impressive performance. “No damage on either car. No consequence in the race. We just had slight contact and missed the corner, and so what?” the Dane said before knowing he was in line for a ban. “We were racing. I don’t know why we need to be throwing around penalties like this.”
Single Department Recalcitrant Car Final Sector Richard Verschoor Grand Prix Driver Tough Weekend Penalty Points Pole Force Smooth Driving Style Last-Minute Substitution In-Race Penalty George Russell Western Asia Learning Phase Race Simulations Sprint Race Track Action Meaning Track Evolution James Sutton Lando Norris Grand Prix Street Tracks Oliver Bearman Kevin Magnussen Europe Race Pace Jeremy Clarkson Qualifying Session Precautionary Power Unit Christian Horner Sergio Pérez Adrian Newey Southern Europe Italy Anointed Title Challenger Penalty Guidelines Car Balance Good Form Single-Lap Pace Three-Event Cameo Drivers Putting Race Pace Simulations Shop Window Saudi Arabia Max Verstappen Aussie Christian Mansell Practice Session Power Unit Change Junior Series Detuned Power Unit Getty Images Inc. Charles Leclerc Carlos Sainz Lap Time Learning Period Nico Hülkenberg Predicted Race Pressure Gradients Sergio Perez Power Unit Temporary Teammate Azerbaijan Reverse-Grid Rules Fourth-Fastest Car Practice Analysis Asia PIT TALK Predicted Race Pace Championship Defences Steering Issue Drivers Briefings Danger Venues Clear Direction
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