Baku F2: Vips leads practice from Boschung
Hitech Grand Prix’s Juri Vips led FIA Formula 2’s free practice in Baku by seven-tenths of a second during a session featuring multiple yellow flags.
The Red Bull junior, who is 10th in the standings, set a 1m55.210s to top the timesheets at Baku City Circuit, leading from Campos Racing’s Ralph Boschung and ART Grand Prix’s Theo Pourchaire.
Highest placed returning driver Robert Schwartzman, driving for Prema Racing, came fourth, 1.1s behind the leader with a 1m56.375s, with his team-mate Oscar Piastri in fifth.
Cars headed out on a dusty and dirty track early on Friday morning for the third round of the championship, racing on the medium compound for the first time this season.
The yellow flags were out 10 minutes into the session after Trident’s Marino Sato crashed at the exit of Turn 15, hitting the barrier and picking up heavy damage, leaving him limping back to the pits with three wheels. The incident will be investigated after the end of the session.
Minutes later, a virtual safety car was introduced after MP Motorsport’s Lirim Zendeli ran wide at Turn 16 and became stuck in the run-off area, eventually having to abandon his attempts to restart the car.
At the halfway mark, DAMS driver and Ferrari academy member Marcus Armstrong led the timesheets with a 2m00.851s, seven-tenths clear of Prema Racing’s Oscar Piastri, with Pourchaire in third.
Armstrong was quickly beaten by HWA Racelab’s Jack Aitken, who was the first driver to set a sub two-minute time with a 1m57.840s, before the times began to tumble, with the following five cars all breaking that barrier.
Aitken also had a close call with the barrier, clipping the wall at Turn 15 but remarkably escaping with no damage.
The session was ended with just over a minute to go after DAMS’ Roy Nissany spun and ended up in the wall.
Championship leader Guanyu Zhou, driving for UNI-Virtuosi, only managed 12th place, with a 1m57.019s.
Friday afternoon’s qualifying session will set the grid for Sunday’s feature race, while the starting grid of the first Saturday Sprint Race will be set by reversing the top 10 finishers in qualifying.
The second Sprint Race grid will be determined by reversing the top 10 finishers of the first Sprint Race.
Baku F2 - Practice Results
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