LAST UPDATE | 27 Apr 2019
FERRARI’S CHARLES LECLERC smashed his car into the same wall as Robert Kubica to force a second delay to qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday.
Leclerc came to grief at Turn Eight in Q2 where Kubica had also crashed his Williams in Q1 this afternoon.
The Monegasque driver, running on the harder compound ‘medium’ tyres despite falling temperatures, was angry with himself for pushing too hard in tricky conditions at the castle turn.
I am stupid, I am stupid,” said Leclerc.
The session was halted again to allow for a clean up of debris on and damage to the circuit. Earlier Kubica’s accident was further bad news for the luckless Williams team.
On Friday their British rookie driver George Russell escaped unhurt when his car was wrecked after running over a loose drain cover at high speed in opening practice, which was abandoned and cancelled.
Practice Performance
Leclerc had topped the times in Saturday’s final practice and helped deliver a Ferrari one-two in Baku.
In only his fourth outing with the scarlet scuderia, Leclerc impressed from the start with a polished demonstration of speed on the tight and demanding course.
Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel was unable to match his new team-mate, but was still too quick for the chasing pack with Max Verstappen third for Honda-powered Red Bull ahead of the two Mercedes.
Valtteri Bottas took fourth in practice, with championship leader and defending champion Lewis Hamilton down in fifth ahead of Russian Daniil Kvyat for the Honda-powered Toro Rosso team.
Kevin Magnussen was seventh for Haas ahead of Alex Albon in the second Toro Rosso, Sergio Perez of Racing Point and Kimi Rakkonen of Alfa Romeo.
The session run in mild and dry conditions with an air temperature of 16 degrees and track of 43.
Following Friday’s dramas which resulted in the cancellation of opening practice, there were no further problems with drain covers, but several drivers had took a tentative approach on the tricky street circuit during their test laps.
Briton George Russell, in a new Williams chassis to replace the one wrecked by Friday’s misfortune, was notably cautious as he rejoined the fray 24 hours after the floor of his car was smashed in opening practice.
As the pace picked up, there was evidence of slips and slides as several drivers including Bottas, Vettel and Hamilton took to the escape zones.
Frenchman Pierre Gasly also ended up in an escape road after narrowly missing a wall in his Red Bull, a mishap that left him struggling at the bottom of the times behind the Williams pairing.
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