Formula 1 title contender Lando Norris suffered a Friday Azerbaijan Grand Prix setback, breaking his McLaren's suspension in a crash during second practice.
But title rival and team-mate Oscar Piastri could be in even bigger trouble - as he faces an investigation for a potential yellow-flag infringement, the origin of which is unclear for now - after a session in which he too found the McLaren a handful.
Norris was third-fastest at the halfway point of the session, but smacked the outside wall at Turn 4 right around that time. He reported "tyre's gone" but was misled, as the damage was much more considerable than a puncture - with Norris forced to limp back to the pits, his car 'crabbing' due to a broken suspension.
Now it's Lando Norris' turn to bash the barriers 💥
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 19, 2025
It's a hefty hit and he's got damage #F1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/ZM354nuX6a
He did get the car back into the pits with 25 minutes left on the clock, but there was no real chance of it being repaired in time for him to add to his seven laps logged in the session.
Lando Norris on his way back to the pitlane: pic.twitter.com/3VEIerOgzs
— The Race (@wearetherace) September 19, 2025
But he still ended up placing ahead of Piastri - 10th versus 12th - with Piastri struggling to find a clean lap, and himself getting away with a substantial brush of the wall exiting Turn 15.
The Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc sat first and second after the early runs, Hamilton setting his fastest time on the C5 medium - which is thought to be a viable qualifying alternative to the fragile C6 soft this weekend.
Once they both swapped tyre sets, now Hamilton likewise on softs, Leclerc briefly jumped ahead - but Hamilton found an extra 0.074s to top the session, his laptime a 1m41.293s.
The Ferraris had a buffer of over four tenths out front, with George Russell in third 0.477s back from former team-mate Hamilton - but having had to bail out of a potential personal best lap after a big slide through Turn 12.
Russell joins the bump-the-barriers party 😮#F1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/Q7tTgZlCJG
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 19, 2025
His team-mate Kimi Antonelli was just 0.009s back in fourth, while Haas driver Ollie Bearman ended up an eye-catching fifth, six tenths off the pace on the medium.
Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson, in seventh, was the only other driver in the top 10 to have set his fastest time on the medium.
Max Verstappen headed up Red Bull's efforts as usual, placing between Bearman and Lawson in fifth.
There was no shortage of drivers taking to the run-offs following the numerous hard braking zones of the Baku circuit, and a lot of contact with barriers, but only Norris's car sustained session-ending damage.
FP2 result
1 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 1m41.293s
2 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.074s
3 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.477s
4 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.486s
5 Ollie Bearman (Haas) +0.598s
6 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.609s
7 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +0.696s
8 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +0.874s
9 Alex Albon (Williams) +0.884s
10 Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.906s
11 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +0.962s
12 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +1.002s
13 Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) +1.150s
14 Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) +1.151s
15 Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) +1.268s
16 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1.381s
17 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +1.478s
18 Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) +1.527s
19 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +1.674s
20 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +2.029s
