Charles Leclerc planted his Ferrari at the top of the times after practice Friday for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with Red Bull’s in-form Sergio Perez best of the rest.

Perez, the winner on the streets of Baku 12 months ago, arrived fresh from victory at Monaco which ignited talk of him as a viable title contender ahead of this eighth round of the season.

Mexico’s most successful Formula One driver, only 15 points behind his world champion teammate Max Verstappen, was quick out of the blocks dominating first practice.

But in the later session he had to settle for second on the time sheets, 0.248sec behind Leclerc who on Saturday will be favourite to nail his sixth pole out of eight this term.

Verstappen, who has yet to even make a podium in Baku, posted the third quickest time, a further 0.108sec adrift, with Fernando Alonso placed fourth, the two-time world champion clearly meaning business in his Alpine.

Continue reading this article on SportsDesk, the sports website of the Times of Malta

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