Time to move on from looking at the track on paper or in the simulator and take to the real streets of Baku. The first free practice session signaled the start of the new European Grand Prix in Azerbaijan, the eighth round of the championship. The very smooth and still dusty track surface meant the slightest step out of line was penalized. Sebastian Vettel was fifth in 1.48.627, while Kimi Raikkonen was twelfth in 1.49.635, in a session spent working on aero testing, while mainly allowing the drivers to get to know the new track. A red flag, following a crash for Ricciardo and plenty of yellow ones, meant the work was regularly interrupted, as could be expected.
In the second free practice session for the European Grand Prix, the Ferraris finished 8th and 13th on the Baku street circuit. Track conditions had changed considerably since the first session, with cloud cover leading to much cooler temperatures. Working on acquiring data relating to tyre behaviour, Sebastian Vettel – eighth in 1.46.219 – ended the day on a set of used yellow Soft tyres, while team-mate Kimi Raikkonen – thirteenth in 1.46.694 – chose to continue with the red Supersofts. The tyres, particularly the fronts, were not at their best in terms of temperature. A suspected technical problem meant the Finn had to park his SF16-H at the exit to turn 5.
Kimi Raikkonen: ”The circuit layout is pretty ok, it’s different and fun to drive. Being a new track it was quite slippery to start with, but this is normal. The balance of the car was not too bad but the main issue today was to make the tires work, the challenge was to switch them on for one lap. With more laps it seems to get better and better, but to make a lap time was not easy. I don’t know what was the issue at the end of the session, for sure something happened, the car stopped but we still don’t know why. Once we’ll get the car back we’ll be able to understand. In the evening we’ll have to go through what we have done today and see what we can improve for tomorrow.”
Sebastian Vettel: ”In the end I don’t think we had a bad day. Obviously, it is not great that Kimi could not finish the session, but after all we did many laps. I got to know the track. It is quite interesting, and that was the main objective today. The car felt good, what is missing is some speed, but I am sure we can improve. We look at what we have done. The track is very difficult, you have quite a long straight leading into hard brakings. At the beginning to find the reference is quite tricky. Your own orientation is not enough and all the trees look the same. After a while you find the rhythm, you know the bumps and then it becomes a bit better. But at the beginning it took some time. Plus it was quite slippery to start, so it was definitely more fun this afternoon. However, it seems a nice track, quite challenging, especially the high speed sections. For us everything felt ok. We are too far away and this is our problem, we are not quick enough. I am sure we will find something for tomorrow. I am confident because I believe in the team, in the car and sometimes also believe in myself!”
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