REPORT: Building our way into the Baku weekend

Our first day on track at the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix has been mixed for the Williams Racing team, with a tricky opening session followed by a more promising Free Practice 2.

The Baku City Circuit was incredibly dusty when Free Practice 1 got underway in the early afternoon, with the track ramping up across the hour.

Franco Colapinto, getting his first taste of the unique venue, was building his way into the opening hour nicely before colliding with the wall at Turn 4 on his second soft tyre push lap.

This ended his session early with 12 laps under his belt and a best time of 1:47.901. In truth, it was a disrupted FP1 with a total of three Red Flag periods, meaning Alex Albon was only able to record 17 laps and a best time of 1:47.955.

The team worked hard during the break between sessions to repair Franco’s FW46 and he was back on track 12 minutes into FP2.

It was a more productive hour with no disruptions other than a handful of Yellow Flags.

Alex recorded our best time of the day, a 1:44.737, to place him in P13 whilst Franco was just a fraction behind in P14 after a 1:44.749.

“It’s been a tricky day,” Alex shared after FP2. “We haven’t been very happy with the way the car has been behaving so we’ll make some changes and, if we make the right calls, I think we’ll make a good step forward.

“The track is super sensitive with low grip and the tyres are overheating a lot. Pirelli have set the pressures really high so you can’t afford to slide the car or it damages the tyre really quickly so you really need to look after those tyres.

“It’s not fun but it’s the same for everyone. At the minute we don’t quite have top ten pace but there are definitely a lot of things we can look at tonight and then I don’t think we’ll be too bad.”

Franco continued our Friday reaction by sharing: “The crash was a rookie mistake as I was still getting to grips with the track, and everything was new.

“Taking that away, we had a good second session. The heroes of the day are the mechanics. They did an amazing job to repair my car in time for FP2.

“I’m proud of the team for all their efforts. I was really happy to be able to get another session under my belt to help build my confidence up. It was a small mistake but here it can cost you a lot.

“The car is in a good position and I’m feeling more comfortable lap after lap. I need to keep working to understand how the overheating and degradation works.

“This is still a process as it’s only my second race and it’s a street track. It’s a tough start but I think we’re doing a good job.”

Sven Smeets, Sporting Director, watched on with interest from the pit wall, commenting: “In FP1 both drivers weren’t very happy with the car. There was no grip and the tyres were never operating in the right window.

“Franco made a mistake in his second push lap on the Soft, hit the wall and had to retire from the rest of FP1.

“The team did a brilliant job to get his car ready for FP2 and he was able to run almost the whole session.

“Also, on Alex’s side, the team was very busy, changing many things on the car in order to find a better balance and performance.

“The hard work has paid off as the drivers were happier with the behaviour of the car in FP2 but there is still more work to do tonight, going through all the data and finding performance if we want to be fighting for points on Sunday.”