Lewis Hamilton was only 11th fastest as Mercedes struggled in the second practice at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku yesterday.
Hamilton was a second off the pace-setting time of Red Bull's Sergio Perez as both he and teammate Valtteri Bottas struggled on the softest tyre.
Mercedes were unable to generate any lap time on the soft tyre, which will be used to define the grid today. Hamilton's title rival Max Verstappen was second fastest, 0.101 seconds behind teammate Perez. Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were third and fourth, despite Leclerc having a light impact with the wall on a lap that would have put him ahead of his teammate and possibly the Red Bulls as well.
Leclerc, whose crash in final qualifying in Monaco two weeks ago ultimately ruined his weekend when the car failed before the race as a result of the impact, misjudged Turn 15 and nosed into the barrier.
His front wing came off, but he was able to reverse out of the barrier and return to the pits with no other damage.
Alpha Tauri's Pierre Gasly was fifth quickest, ahead of the Alpine of Fernando Alonso, Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi and McLaren's Lando Norris. Alpine's Esteban Ocon was ninth, ahead of the second Alpha Tauri of Yuki Tsunoda.
But it was Mercedes' lack of pace that was the stand-out story of the session. (BBC)
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