Daniel Ricciardo Ahead In Azerbaijan Grand Prix Practice
Ricciardo repeats the form he showed in China, snagging the fastest lap time in Friday practice.
Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull Racing's descent from cloud nine may be postponed, with the Aussie posting the fastest time in Friday's free practice sessions for the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. His teammate Max Verstappen had a less fruitful Friday. Verstappen was almost bucked off when his RB14 met with the wall in a small collision during free practice one, and in the closing seconds of free practice two, his engine began to emit unhealthy noises; the pit wall advised to keep revs below 10,500 rpm while he nursed the car back to its garage.
Ferrari had a poor showing in the first practice session, 10th and 15th fastest respectively, and improvement was mixed after second practice. Kimi climbed to second, and Vettel, to 11th. Commentators speculated that the team's ultrasoft-heavy tire selection may prove unwise, with the Scuderia failing to extract the times from its purple-walled tires that other teams achieved.
Mercedes proved atypically anonymous, despite solid showing in first practice. Valtteri Bottas topped the first session, Lewis Hamilton down in fourth, but both slipped in practice two, to fourth and fifth respectively.
A full list of best laps can be found below, complete with margins of improvement between sessions.
- Daniel Ricciardo/Red Bull - 1:42.795, -1.482 from FP1
- Kimi Räikkönen/Ferrari - 1:42.864, -3.997 from FP1
- Max Verstappen/Red Bull - 1:42.911, -2.648 from FP1
- Valtteri Bottas/Mercedes - 1:43.570, -0.672 from FP1
- Lewis Hamilton/Mercedes - 1:43.603, -1.597 from FP1
- Fernando Alonso/McLaren - 1:43.700, -2.765 from FP1
- Esteban Ocon/Force India - 1:43.814, -1.423 from FP1
- Carlos Sainz Jr./Renault - 1:43.834, -4.907 from FP1
- Kevin Magnussen/Haas - 1:43.977, -3.457 from FP1
- Nico Hülkenberg/Renault - 1:44.091, -2.658 from FP1
- Sebastian Vettel/Ferrari - 1:44.127, -2.386 from FP1
- Sergio Perez/Force India - 1:44.142, -0.933 from FP1
- Romain Grosjean/Haas - 1:44.425, -2.431 from FP1
- Lance Stroll/Williams - 1:44.459, -2.131 from FP1
- Pierre Gasly/Toro Rosso-Honda - 1:44.712, -1.780 from FP1
- Charles Lecerlc/Alfa Romeo Sauber - 1:44.940, -1.935 from FP1
- Sergey Sirotkin/Williams - 1:45.007, -1.473 from FP1
- Brendon Harlety/Toro Rosso-Honda - 1:45.051, -1.696 from FP1
- Stoffel Vandoorne/McLaren - 1:45.288, -2.679 from FP1
- Marcus Ericsson/Alfa Romeo Sauber - 1:46.042, -1.031 from FP1
