Lewis Hamilton remains quickest in FP2 in Azerbaijan for the European GP

In the second practice session in Baku, Lewis Hamilton set the pace ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg and Sergio Perez in session which saw the teams and the drivers getting to grips with the new Baku circuit, with most of the drivers experiencing problems going into Turns 1, 5 and 15 especially.

Just after FP1 and Daniel Ricciardo's crash at Turn 15, there were rumours circulating along social media that FP2 could be delayed or even cancelled due to a track inspection during Qualifying for the GP2 Series that saw the session being postponed. But it was announced by Race Director Race Whiting that the session would go ahead as planned.

In the first ten minutes of FP2, we saw Haas driver Esteban Gutierrez going off the track in Turns 5 and 6 after braking too deep. It took Gutierrez a while to get out of the run off area of the track but he was able to continue running on the circuit. We also saw Sebastian Vettel going off the track at Turn 3 but was able to continue onto the circuit.

Max Verstappen then went off the track at Turn 15 and went into the run off area with his brakes underneath his left front tyre smoking. Verstappen was able to get back onto the track and continue running in the session.

With 45 minutes left of the session, Renault driver Kevin Magnussen goes off the track at Turn 15 but is able to continue on running in the session; joining the list of many drivers who have gone off at that point of the circuit. Ten minutes later, Nico Hulkenberg joins the list of drivers to go off at Turn 15. He spins the car back around and is able to rejoin the track.

With 25 minutes of the session left, Manor Racing driver Pascal Wehrlein on the escape road after going off the circuit and Esteban Gutierrez going off the circuit at Turn 1. Five minutes later, Nico Rosberg pulls over on the circuit with engine trouble and is stuck in fourth gear. The Virtual Safety Car was then deployed in order to recover the Mercedes safely from the track; even though this meant Rosberg was out of the session.

In the last ten minutes of the session, Carlos Sainz Jr spinning into the first corner after experiencing a lack of grip from the Pirelli tyres but he was able to get back onto the circuit and continue running. We also saw Kimi Raikkonen going up the escape road after Turn 5 after a very big lock up after an engine failure and had to vacate the car which saw the Virtual Safety Car being deployed.

But it was Lewis Hamilton who was fastest with a lap time of 1.44.223 ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg in second place who was 0.377 seconds behind him and ahead of Sergio Perez in third place who was 0.661 seconds behind Hamilton.

Valtteri Bottas finished the session in fourth place ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in fifth place, Carlos Sainz Jr in sixth place, Max Verstappen in seventh place, Sebastian Vettel in eighth place, Jenson Button in ninth place and Daniel Ricciardo who rounded off the top ten finishers.

Fernando Alonso ended the session in eleventh place ahead of Romain Grosjean in twelfth place, Kimi Raikkonen in thirteenth place, Daniil Kvyat in fourteenth place and Esteban Gutierrez in fifteenth place.

As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Felipe Massa ended the session in sixteenth place ahead of Kevin Magnussen in seventeenth place, Rio Haryanto in eighteenth place, Marcus Ericsson in nineteenth place, Jolyon Palmer in twentieth place, Pascal Wehrlein in twenty-first place and. Felipe Nasr in twenty-second place.

The classification of FP3 for the European GP is as follows:-

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1.44.223
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 0.690s
3. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 1.113s
4. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 1.541s
5. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, 1.697s
6. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1.804s
7. Max Verstappen, Red-Bull-TAG Heuer, 1.845s
8. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1.996s
9. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, 2.011s
10. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-TAG Heuer, 2.070s
11. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 2.275s
12. Romain Grosjean, Haas Ferrari, 2.458s
13. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 2.471s
14. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 2.521s
15. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas Ferrari, 2.607s
16. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 2.837s
17. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 3.106s
18. Rio Haryanto, MRT Racing, 3.264s
19. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 3.549s
20. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 3.571s
21. Pascal Wehrlein, MRT Racing, 3.795s
22. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 3.858s

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa