2026 Formula 1 Azerbaijan GP
F1 Azerbaijan GP: Follow FP2 in Baku with live timing
Our live text updates for everything FP2 at this year's Azerbaijan Grand Prix
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Norris goes third, 0.339s off Verstappen, who still seems to be trundling around. Gasly had an off somewhere, but he's back on the road.
Leclerc sets a 1m44.473s, going top for a little bit before Russell sets a 1m43.759s to go fastest by 0.7s for now.
Piastri lost a boatload of time in the final sector, and only shook out in fifth despite impressing in the first part of the lap.
Hamilton goes up to fourth, Antonelli then breaks into fifth - and Verstappen improves, but is still 0.4s off Russell.
Verstappen is spooling up for a qualifying lap, deciding to do a second prep lap before he gets on his way.
Antonelli, meanwhile, is straight into it - albeit taking a bit of margin. He goes up to sixth, albeit 1.1s off Verstappen's medium-tyre lap.
Bearman left the garage, and then the engine just...stopped. You could hear a little sad yelp from the turbo as it stopped rotating.
Antonelli's on-track for the first time this session, as the action resumes. The Cadillacs, Alpines and Haases were keen to get going...
...but Bearman's engine has given up on him, and he's parked up at a service road.
"I think I clipped it by a millimetre," Lindblad reckoned. The car has been pulled into the Old Town, so we should resume shortly.
Lindblad just carried a bit too much speed through that tight castle section, clipped the barrier, and then took a second clip going up-hill.
He's out of the car, and he'll lose a ton of time getting to grips with this circuit.
Bortoleto has stopped somewhere on track, but the yellow flag has been lifted so presumably he's got going again.
Lindblad has hit the wall at Turn 8, there's a red flag.
A couple of near-misses with the wall as the drivers press the limits - Stroll gave the Turn 15 wall the lightest of taps, as Lawson got close at Turn 2.
Hadjar had a big lock-up at Turn 1, as Verstappen was a whisker away from touching the Turn 15 barrier too.
Russell posts a 1m44.537s to go fastest now, but Verstappen is attempting to hit back - and indeed, finds 0.045s on the Mercedes driver to return to the top of the pile.
Norris posts a 1m45.184s on the hard tyre, going top for a few seconds before Verstappen posts a 1m45.115s.
"I'm constantly counter-steering because the rear axle is coming off the ground," Verstappen reports. Evidently it's not slowing him down too much.
"The ride of the car is completely ****," Verstappen says, one should imagine Gianpiero Lambiase will ask for more details.
Antonelli, Lindblad, and Sainz yet to go out - work going on at Racing Bulls, while Sainz did get going again in FP1 after his brake fire.
Gasly moves up to fourth, as Russell posts a time 0.011s off Verstappen.
Russell has a 1m46.300s on the board, as Norris goes a tenth and a half slower.
Verstappen then posts a 1m45.933s to go top. It's looking a bit dark and hazy out there as the afternoon sun does its thing.
Colapinto's already gone into the run-off at Turn 2, he left the pit lane and immediately just went into the escape road. Bizarre.
Anyway, Bottas starts a lap, with Gasly just ahead of him on the road. First sighters on mediums, before we get running on the softs a bit later on.
Antonelli should be out at some point, but he's had an engine change; a marshal had a bit too much fun squirting a fire extinguisher into the car.
Hadjar has had a gearbox change, while the McLarens are using cable ties as stays for the floor boards.
The session hath begun.
A disrupted FP1 - Antonelli with a hydraulic issue, McLaren with limited running, a stop late-on for Hulkenberg, and a few other moments here and there. Expect the drivers to push a bit more, which might result in a few brushes with the wall.
What might help the drivers out is the lack of wind.
Komatsu: Haas must make right approach to 2027 driver call
Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu says the team is taking its time with its driver decision for next season to ensure it picks the right driver to partner Ollie Bearman. This is likely to be one of the rookie drivers tested during its TPC programme, although it is rumoured that Rafael Camara is leading the way.
"All three drivers we tested in Portimao, and also Jack [Doohan] last week, they've done a very, very good job. I think we are in a very fortunate position to have such interest from very talented drivers.
"We've just got to analyse the result very carefully because it's a TPC test, it's very, very difficult to normalise the condition. A bit of change in the wind, track temperature, lap time changes quite a lot. It's a very, very important decision, obviously.
"Of course, we are talking about the lives of those people. For those guys, Formula 1 is always a dream to achieve, so we've got to make the right decision. Yeah, that's why we're taking time to just make sure we do it right."
Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team, Ayao Komatsu, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
Binotto closes off Audi driver chat: "Our drivers were contracted"
Mattia Binotto essentially confirmed what we already knew: Hulkenberg and Bortoleto will stay at Audi as both have contracts for next year.
"I think our situation isn't simpler. We have no discussion what's the proper plan for the next season. Our drivers were contracted, so we knew that it would have been no change," Binotto said in the team principals' press conference earlier.
"But on top of that, I think we are happy on the speed of them. So we never announced really what would have been next year because there was no necessity. So we have a lineup which is confirmed and on which we are happy with."
Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi, Nico Hulkenberg, Audi
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
FP2 coming up shortly!
And we're back - that felt like a very quick turnaround between sessions! FP2 starts in 30 minutes' time, and it'll be time to get a read of where everyone stands on qualifying and race pace...as long as nobody hurls their cars into the wall, of course!
Famous last words...
Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
