charles leclerc closed the Friday of the Azerbaijan GP with the best time ahead of Sergio Perez and of Max Verstappen. The man from Ferrari, once again the leader of the Maranello team, made it clear that he wants to return to the top, something that he has not achieved for four races.
The surprise came in first place outside the ‘top 3’: Fernando Alonso. Despite the fact that the conditions of this circuit did not invite optimism, the Alpine A522 and the good work of the Asturian led him to a more than decent 4th place in the time table, although it was almost a second behind Leclerc’s time.
The Asturian, who was already 5th in the morning, confirmed that the sensations for the Anglo-French team are more than decent, although the time achieved was helped by slipstreams.
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Alonso’s good performance left in a concise 5th place to Carlos Sainz. The man from Madrid devoted practically the entire session to understanding the medium tyres, which aim to be the primary ones in the race.
The man from Madrid hardly rolled with the soft ones, especially because the problems of ‘pouring‘ made them all the more worth keeping in the face of a hypothetical qualifying fight. Sainz finished the day 5th and with a scare in the form of leaving the track.
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Sainz was not the only one to test the few loopholes, which is what they are for. The braking of the long straights of sector 1 and 2 led to several exits from the track, such as those carried out by ‘Checo’ Pérez or Lando Norris. Better that than what happened to Alex Albanwho, because he was rushing a lot next to the wall and about to reach the finish line, hit the corner of the wall trying to catch the clean side of the track.
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To add anecdotal elements, as happens in urban circuits, two plastic bags were placed on the track that ended up on Sainz’s pontoons and Stephen Ocon. The Frenchman, this time, could not with Alonso, although the moment of truth will be on Saturday and, above all, on Sunday.
Free Time Table 2 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Photos: Scuderia Ferrari