Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Friday Practice Recap

Track running consisted of two 60-minute sessions – FP1 and FP2 – around the 6.003-kilometer (3.730-mile), 20-turn circuit.

FP1 brought with it an immediate slice of misfortune for Mick Schumacher as he was forced to stop at Turn 12 while bedding in his VF-22. A loose water hose clamp proved to be the culprit – impacted by the bumpy nature of the Baku City Circuit, the German sidelined for remainder of the session waiting for his car to be returned to the garage. Kevin Magnussen was left to lead the way for Haas F1 and the Dane would go on to finish FP1 with a best lap of 1:47.946 – good for P13 on the timesheets. Magnussen had started the session with a wake-up run on Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires before switching to Red softs for an extended stint – one which included his best lap.

While lap times dropped in FP2 Magnussen and Schumacher were still finding grip at a premium as the street circuit continued to rubber in – Formula 2 the only support race aiding the process in Baku. Both drivers opened the second session running the medium compound before swapping onto new sets of soft tires for Quali sims. Magnussen posted a fastest lap of 1:45.588 for P17 with Schumacher clocking a 1:46.425 for P19. Friday’s run-plan wrapped with high fuel laps to the checkered flag.

Haas F1 Team ran a total of 74 laps on Friday across FP1 and FP2 – 50 by Magnussen and 24 by Schumacher.

Kevin Magnussen, Driver No. 20, Haas F1 Team

“It’s a nice track to drive, I like it. It’s a street track and it’s always just a little more exciting, a little more on the limit it feels so I enjoy it. The car feels very good actually but in FP2 we weren’t very quick which is a bit surprising – to fall back that much from FP1. Usually, the trend is that we’re better in FP2 than we are in FP1 and today it was the opposite, so we need to look into that and see if we can find something. I’m still positive, this race is a crazy one where lots can happen.”

 

Mick Schumacher, Driver No. 47, Haas F1 Team

“It seems that the problem with the water leak came from the heavy bouncing that we suffered in the first lap, and it just wrecked the plan. It’s the first time physically that I do feel the effect of it, it’s quite harsh on the body and also on the car, so it’s definitely something to think about for future events. This track in general is quite light on tires except for obviously the surface temperature being quite high. It will be interesting to analyze deeper today, so we have a good overview for the race.”


Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team

“FP1 started badly with the water leak on Mick’s car - he couldn’t go out - which is not good at a track like this. Something strange happened and actually we’re lucky the same thing didn’t happen to Kevin as he was very close to having it happen as well, so we fixed it for FP2. FP1 was actually pretty good – we then made some changes for FP2 and we didn’t perform as we planned to perform, so we need to go back to the drawing board a little bit overnight and see what we can do for tomorrow to be able to get some performance into the car.”

 

Today's Data

Event: Free Practice 1 & 2 for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Friday June 10
Location: Baku City Circuit 
Layout: 6.003-kilometer (3.730-mile), 20-turn circuit 
FP1 & FP2 Weather: Sunny
Drivers: Kevin Magnussen & Mick Schumacher 

Free Practice 1 Rundown:

Magnussen: 13th overall (1:47.946), 24 laps completed
Schumacher: 20th overall (No Time), 3 laps completed
Fastest: Sergio Perez of Red Bull Racing (1:45.476)

Free Practice 2 Rundown:

Magnussen: 17th overall (1:45.588), 26 laps completed
Schumacher: 19th overall (1:46.425), 21 laps completed
Fastest: Charles Leclerc of Scuderia Ferrari (1:43.224)