Max Verstappen finished the second free practice in Baku in sixth place, but the Dutchman sounded surprisingly positive afterwards. While Lewis Hamilton recorded the fastest time for Ferrari, Verstappen saw a solid foundation for the rest of the weekend. Aside from a few areas for improvement for the qualifying, the Red Bull driver is hopeful for another strong race. After his victory in Monza, expectations are high.
“It wasn’t bad,” Verstappen said afterwards. “The car feels good, which is positive. We’ve found a stable balance on this very specific track. That’s what you need. Everything has to come together to drive a good lap.” Verstappen acknowledged that there is still room for improvement in the qualifying trims. “We’re still a bit short over one fast lap, there’s still something to get out of the car and myself. Hopefully, that will go a bit better tomorrow. The long runs felt fine, thankfully. It’s always slippery here and tough on the softer compounds, but it wasn’t bad.”
Driving the Perfect Lap
That stability in the longer runs seems to be Verstappen’s main starting point. “I expect a few teams will be close together and then it comes down to driving a perfect lap,” he explained. The second free practice was lively, with a number of yellow flags for drivers hitting the walls. Hamilton eventually set the fastest time with a 1:41.293, ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc.
George Russell and Kimi Antonelli impressed for Mercedes with P3 and P4. Verstappen improved late in the session on a new set of soft tires, with a 1:41.902. That briefly put him in P3, but he eventually fell back to the sixth position, behind a surprisingly fast Oliver Bearman.
