Azerbaijan GP: Disappointing FP2 for Williams Racing


By Andrew Hooper
June 10 2022

Coming off a difficult opening Friday practice session for the 2022 Azerbaijan GP the Williams Racing Team would again be faced with a disappointing second Friday practice session. The results of the session would see Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi finish in 18th and 20th. For Williams it was very much a repeat of the earlier session even with Nicholas being able to complete some runs after his engine issue was resolved. Both drivers were a considerable margin behind those cars in front of them with Alex 0.8s off 17th. Was looking like a tough weekend for the team.

 
 Williams Racing Azerbaijan GP Friday 2nd Practice
 
Albon
 

Team Summary:
The second Friday practice for the 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix would see Sainz out first using the medium tyre. More drivers would follow him out with both McLaren's on the hard tyre. Both Williams cars were out running on the medium tyre. Norris would take his car down the escape road taking several efforts to get it turned around and back out and running. Verstappen was still in his pit as they addressed an issue with his rear wing. As the times came through it would be Sainz fastest with a 1m:45.118 from Perez, Zhou, Hamilton, Tsunoda and Alonso sixth. With ten minutes completed the Williams pair were 16th and 17th. This would become 17th and 18th as Leclerc was now quickest with a 1m:43.806 followed by Perez and Alonso.

Sainz was now fourth from Gasly, Tsunoda, Bottas, Ocon, Zhou and Hamilton. Tsunoda was able to move into fourth as the Williams drivers dropped to 18th and 19th. Sainz was able to improve to be second ahead of Perez. Verstappen would improve to be fourth after his rear wing issue had been resolved. Both Williams cars would return for soft tyre runs and after their first laps they were 16th and 19th. More drivers were out on soft tyre runs as we now had Verstappen second from Perez, Sainz, Alonso, Gasly, Russell, Tsunoda, Norris and Vettel tenth. The Williams pair were currently 17th and 19th.

Leclerc had retain his spot at the top of the times with Perez now second. With fifteen minutes remaining Leclerc was still quickest from Perez, Verstappen, Alonso, Sainz, Gasly, Russell, Tsunoda, Ocon, and Norris tenth. For Williams they were 18th and 20th. Drivers were now out on longer runs as the session drew to a close. With the session end the order would remain the same with Leclerc remaining quickest. The drivers were able to complete practice starts on the grid while for Williams it was very much a repeat of the earlier session even with Nicholas being able to complete some runs. Both drivers were a considerable margin behind those cars in front of them with Alex 0.8s off 17th. Was looking like a tough weekend for the team.

Alex Albon:
Alex was right behind Nicholas as he joined the session also on the medium tyre. Alex would set a 1m:48.983 to be eighth. He would drop to 15th one place ahead of his team-mate. This would become 17th but with a 1m:47.475 Alex would improve to be 13th but even with a 1m:47.416 he would drop to 18th. He would pit after a seven lap run. Alex would join his team-mate out for a soft tyre run. He would set a 1m:46.633 to be 16th. But a 1m:46.397 would see him improve to be 15th but again he would drop back down to 18th as he pitted after a six lap run. When back in his garage you could see damage to his front right wheel after he had made contact with the barrier. With the damage this would be the end of his session finishing in 18th.

Nicholas Latifi:
After the frustrations of an engine issue in the opening Friday practice Nicholas would return looking to make up for lost time. He was out in the medium tyre for his first run. Nicholas had set a 1m:50.026 that would see him currently 16th. He would drop to 19th but a 1m:47.806 would see him 18th. After an eight lap run Nicholas would pit returning on the soft tyre on what was now a fairly empty track. He would set a 1m:47.474 but would remain 19th. He would improve with a 1m:47.218 but again was stuck in 19th. Nicholas would pit after a seven lap still in 19th. He would return on used medium tyres but would pit after a single lap now 20th. With just over ten minutes remaining Nicholas would return still on the medium tyre. He would complete eight laps on the medium with the end of the session.

 
Latifi
 
Cla Driver Chassis Time Gap Interval
1  Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'43.224    
2  Sergio Perez Red Bull 1'43.472 0.248 0.248
3  Max Verstappen Red Bull 1'43.580 0.356 0.108
4  Fernando Alonso Alpine 1'44.142 0.918 0.562
5  Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1'44.274 1.050 0.132
6  Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 1'44.315 1.091 0.041
7  George Russell Mercedes 1'44.548 1.324 0.233
8  Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1'44.567 1.343 0.019
9  Esteban Ocon Alpine 1'44.609 1.385 0.042
10  Lando Norris McLaren 1'44.771 1.547 0.162
11  Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 1'44.781 1.557 0.010
12  Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'44.874 1.650 0.093
13  Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1'44.874 1.650 0.000
14  Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 1'45.059 1.835 0.185
15  Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1'45.115 1.891 0.056
16  Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1'45.264 2.040 0.149
17  Kevin Magnussen Haas 1'45.588 2.364 0.324
18  Alex Albon Williams 1'46.397 3.173 0.809
19  Mick Schumacher Haas 1'46.425 3.201 0.028
20  Nicholas Latifi Williams 1'47.218 3.994 0.793
 
Albon
 

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Azerbaijan GP: Disappointing FP2 for Williams Racing
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 10/06/2022 16:34
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10/06/2022 16:34
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