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00:00Скайспортс
00:30And race day is on Saturday. We're on air at 10.30 with a race start of midday.
00:37So Kimi getting ready for the second practice session. Let's head up to commentary.
01:06We'll be right back.
01:34Well, good afternoon, everyone. Welcome along to the second practice session ahead of what is the ninth Azerbaijan Formula One
01:40World Championship Grand Prix and the 10th to take place around this street circuit here in the capital city, Baku.
01:47Most wins, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Red Bull have picked up five over the years and wins from pole
01:53three out of the previous nine.
01:55In fact, if you start outside the top three on the grid, you've got a fair chance of getting on
02:00the podium here.
02:00Twenty-seven podium finishes in total. Eleven have started from outside the top three.
02:05So qualifying will be important, but the race itself could be dramatic.
02:08And we've got 51 laps to come around these 20 corners. Twelve to the left and eight to the right.
02:15Nine braking zones, one of which is heavy after the 1.4 mile main straights leading into turn one.
02:21C5 tyres. We saw some of those used in the first practice session.
02:25And the C4 is the medium. The C3 is the hard and it is still a long day here on
02:31the shores of the Caspian Sea.
02:32It's like summer just doesn't want to end. And we are very grateful for that, Karun Chandok and myself.
02:37The city of winds not living up to its name so far.
02:40And for Kimi Antonelli, well, that was a very disrupted first practice session for our championship leader.
02:45It was a hydraulic problem. They're putting him out of the session for halfway through down to turn seven.
02:51So he's got a bit of ground to make up. The team would have got good information from the other
02:55car.
02:55George Russell completing the program. And I'm pretty sure Antonelli will be back up to speed fairly quickly, Crofty.
03:02But the wind is the big story.
03:05For lack of it.
03:06Exactly. For the lack of, because the teams are all a bit confused.
03:11This is absolutely a track where, you know, we're right along the shores of the sea, as you say.
03:16And we normally are used to a very strong wind one way or the other.
03:21So it tends to go tailwind down in the morning and then headwind in the afternoon.
03:27So, yeah, we've got nothing at the moment, which has certainly confused everybody.
03:31And with two... See, there's the flag. It's a very, very tall flagpole.
03:35So there is a bit of breeze coming in here, but not what we are usually used to.
03:39Two minutes to go to the start of this session.
03:41Kimi Antonelli, disruptive practice session, needs to get back up to speed.
03:45Question, Ted Kravitz, how quick is he going to come out on FB2?
03:50Hello, Crofty. Hello, Karun, everybody from the pit lane.
03:52Well, Karun, I like your enthusiastic optimism, but I'm afraid I don't share it.
03:57They've had to change the engine on Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes because of the,
04:03shall we call it, enthusiastic fire hydranting of the marshals.
04:08Yes, squirting a lot of foam onto the car.
04:11They did. And that stuff takes a little bit of time to clear up, especially when the engine is hot,
04:16especially when it goes on it and then dries.
04:18And then they need to delicately wipe it down, hose it off, whatever you want to call it.
04:23Pressure washer out the back. But it does mean that it's a new power unit from the pool.
04:29So it's a new in the sense it wasn't in the car in FP1.
04:33There is Kimi Antonelli waiting for the job to be done, but not new in terms of him taking a
04:38grid penalty or anything like that.
04:40Don't worry about it.
04:41But only because, not because the engine failed, but because it had that fire extinguisher all over it.
04:48And it's not going to be ready for the start of the session.
04:50I can tell you that guaranteed.
04:52They're hoping to get it out and optimistic that it will get out at some point in Free Practice 2.
04:59Thank you very much, Ted.
05:00We've got a Hadjar update as well.
05:02That's a gearbox change.
05:03Is it?
05:04And that looks like it's more or less finished.
05:05Good.
05:06That's what we like to hear.
05:08We want to see Kimi out on the track as well.
05:10McLaren are another team that were in and out of the garage during FP1.
05:15An update from the McLaren team for you.
05:18They encountered an issue, they say, with the floorboards that required an on-car solution during the session.
05:24We saw the stays being applied.
05:26We can see some more being applied on our screen right now.
05:30The team has worked between sessions to implement an interim fix.
05:33We've got some more cable tyres and some more stays there.
05:35Ahead of Free Practice 2, a more comprehensive solution is planned for Friday.
05:41So a problem with the floorboards that required that solution.
05:45And Oscar and Lando were kept in the garage for longer than they would have wanted.
05:49Certainly during FP1.
05:51Right, green light at the end of the pit lane and the cars can file out into the sunshine.
05:55It's 4 o'clock on a Thursday afternoon here in Baku.
05:59Yes, we are a day early for all sessions this weekend because Sunday is a national day of mourning in
06:07Azerbaijan.
06:07It was established in 2020, I think, in remembrance of those who lost their lives in the second Nagorno-Karabakh
06:14War.
06:15So that is a national day of mourning and then the race has been brought forward to a Saturday.
06:21We used to have Saturday races at Silverstone all the time so that the noise wouldn't disturb the congregation in
06:27the local churches.
06:29Disturbing the runoff areas already, Franco Colapinto, who's gone straight on at Turn 2, reversed back onto the track and
06:37he can carry on on his way.
06:38Yes, so this session the track will be a lot cleaner.
06:42We've had two Formula 2 qualifying run around here.
06:45They've got a bit of a bumper weekend. They've got two qualifying and three races here in F2.
06:51So more track activity and it means that for the likes of Kimi Antonelli, should he get out on track,
06:57they've done a bit more cleaning for the Formula 1 cars.
07:00We tend to see high track evolution just with a clean up here.
07:04George Russell in that first session did a 45-3.
07:06So when we get to the qualifying simulations on the soft tyres about halfway through, expect the lap times to
07:13drop properly somewhere into the 1.43s.
07:16We expect normally about a second and a half to two seconds.
07:20I've just been looking at last year and the year before.
07:231.41.2 for Lando Norris is the fastest time in F2.
07:28This is Franco Colapinto.
07:30We'll go back to qualifying with some more news for you in a moment, but this is what happens.
07:37Did he get lost?
07:40He didn't look like he was turning.
07:42Very odd.
07:44He didn't lock up or anything, did he? He just sort of drove off.
07:47He didn't look like he was turning the wheel very much either.
07:51I wonder if he had some sort of a problem.
07:52It's very odd.
07:53He might have been talking on the radio in his defence and then the corner came at him very quickly.
07:58That's not much of a defence.
08:00Roger, I'm just trying.
08:02He spoke to Valtteri Bottas, by the way, in between FP1 and FP2.
08:07There he is, out of the track at the moment.
08:08He went to see the stewards because he overtook Alex Albon under a yellow flag.
08:12No penalty applied.
08:14He dared to say his defence might have been, I'm in a Cadillac.
08:18Any overtake's a good overtake, you know, for a new team on the grid.
08:22But I'm not sure he used that defence.
08:23You'll notice, by the way, a new crash helmet for Valtteri Bottas for this weekend.
08:28Bright orange, you can't miss it.
08:29It's a very, very good design and a campaign behind it.
08:34It was World Rhino Day.
08:36Rhino...
08:37The rhinoceros is an endangered species around the world.
08:40Valtteri's trying to raise awareness.
08:42You can go to www.bottas.com with a double S.
08:47And there are some cards that you can buy of Valtteri with a rhino.
08:52Should you wish to, to raise money and to raise funds for awareness and that campaign.
08:58That's why he's got a new helmet for this weekend.
09:02I mean, everyone loves a rhino, so...
09:04And everyone loves a rhino.
09:05Good on him for going out there and, you know, trying to do his best.
09:10You remember the picture last year that caused a worldwide stir?
09:14Yes.
09:14Yeah.
09:15It's another one like that.
09:16What, naked?
09:17Yeah.
09:18OK.
09:18I didn't know that bit.
09:21I mentioned it to a few people in the lunch break and they got very excited about it as well.
09:26So there you go.
09:27So he's out on the track in Cadillac.
09:28A lot of upgrades on that Cadillac car for this weekend.
09:32Audi have brought upgrades.
09:33Williams have brought upgrades.
09:35McLaren have brought upgrades too.
09:37So let's follow Valtteri along this 1.4 mile main straight.
09:42I mean, there's a haze in the air, Caroon Chandler, that we don't always see because of the wind here.
09:47There's a heat haze as well.
09:48There's a lot of dust about.
09:50There's not much to blow it off the track.
09:51And on the medium tyre, Valtteri crosses the line right now to go third fastest.
09:58Behind Pierre Gasly and George Russell with a 1.46.3, who's the head now of Liam Lawson.
10:04This is actually a really tricky session for the setting sun coming into the driver's eyes at some key points.
10:11The trickiest one, of course, is the apex of turn 11 as you go past the castle and Lewis Hamilton
10:18touched the inside wall.
10:20I think it was the first year we came here, wasn't it?
10:22It was.
10:23I remember it well.
10:25Round about the time I asked the question in commentary, does the setting sun pose a problem for drivers in
10:31terms of their visibility and the sun getting in their eyes?
10:34And then Lewis clipped the wall.
10:35Yeah.
10:36Proving that it did.
10:37Yeah.
10:37But with the setting sun, obviously the track temperature also starts to fall away.
10:41So we had a peak of 50 degrees in FP1.
10:45It's now dropped three degrees to 47 and expect that number to just sneak down as the session unfolds.
10:51Bax Verstappen on a set of medium tyres.
10:54Goes to the top of times with a 45.9.
10:57And who was it?
10:58Oh, that was Bounte Bounte.
10:59That's at turn one.
11:00Hmm.
11:01Twitchy, I think, is the right word to use.
11:05A lot of flow of his paint on the side of Oscar Piastri at McLaren.
11:09That's turn three that he's making his way towards now.
11:13Yeah.
11:13He'll remember that corner.
11:14Yeah.
11:15And he doesn't want to remember that corner, does he?
11:17From qualifying last year and he ended in the barrier there.
11:21Ended up making a couple more corners before crashing out in the Grand Prix.
11:26See Charles Leclerc weaving around here.
11:29So going quite late before starting his particular time lap.
11:35And this is an interesting tactic, Crofty.
11:37If you look at the way they're using the energy,
11:40the timing line is only about 200 metres from the first breaking point for turn one.
11:46Yeah.
11:46So they are, I think, going to be a bit cautious on their qualifying laps
11:52as to how much energy they choose to use at the start of the lap.
11:57Which is obviously a bit unusual, because in the past you used to seeing them bombing down the south finish
12:02straight at absolutely full speed.
12:05Now they have to think about the energy they want to use on the straight from turn two down to
12:09turn three.
12:10Yeah.
12:11Well, they'll leave it as late as possible to get on the throttle and to build up the speed before
12:16starting their qualifying lap.
12:18So that's something that needs to be practiced.
12:20But in doing so, you're closing speeds between a driver that's on a lap and a driver that's starting a
12:26lap,
12:26could actually be very dramatic for this year.
12:29As a result, in the race director's notes, drivers have been asked to keep to the left-hand side
12:34if they're not on a lap down that main straight.
12:37Yeah.
12:38Work going on there at racing malls.
12:40Yeah, I could see Ted walking down there from our window,
12:43because I noticed Jonathan Eddles, who's the chief race engineer,
12:47overseeing the work around the cockpit of Arvid Lindblad's car.
12:51So he had three or four mechanics diving into the cockpit.
12:53Maybe some issue with the way the seat was installed.
12:56They've got an awful lot of electronic boxes and wiring looms and all sorts of things running underneath the seat,
13:01and maybe something not quite right in there.
13:05So for the moment, Lindblad not on track like the 19 other cars.
13:09He's standing next to his car in the pit lane.
13:11And we still wait for Carlos Sainz, and we wait for Kimi Antonelli too.
13:16Sainz, who had a brake fire in his Williams on his rear right brake during FP1.
13:21Pierre Gasly, who didn't really get a lap in on the soft tyres.
13:26He got held up a little bit, say Alpine.
13:28They were very happy with the pace that he was showing during the first practice session.
13:32Don't forget Monza.
13:34Alpine got it absolutely right for qualifying, and Pierre Gasly got pole.
13:37He gets into Q3 this weekend.
13:40You know, watch how Alpine go about doing that.
13:43He finishes this latest lap and goes fourth fastest.
13:47But George Russell is on a much quicker lap behind him.
13:50Russell, who had the fastest time in FP1 but got a monster toe from Fernando Alonso,
13:56slots in 11 thousandths of a second behind Verstappen.
14:00Watch Lando Norris though.
14:01I think he's on a good lap here because he's faster than anybody in the first sector.
14:06He would have been hoping for Alonso to stay in front of him and give him a toe across the
14:11line in the last sector.
14:13But this will give us a good benchmark comparison on the hard tyre as well.
14:18This is very, very good.
14:20Nearly a second up on the hard tyre.
14:22He'll get a distant toe as well from Sergio Perez in front of him,
14:26and then Liam Lawson in front of Sergio Perez.
14:29Yeah, Verstappen's improving as well.
14:30So maybe the tyres are taking a couple of laps to wake up there for Max.
14:34He's almost matched what Norris has done in the first two sectors a tenth away from it.
14:40So Lando does a 45-1.
14:43And we're still only a couple tenths quicker than what we saw in the first practice session.
14:47But of course, on the hard tyre.
14:49Yeah, a hard tyre, a very robust hard tyre.
14:52And so it should be.
14:53It's the C3.
14:54It's the favoured tyre, which often is the medium at some races.
14:59And occasionally, a soft as well.
15:01But it's not exactly the hardest of hard tyres.
15:05Meanwhile, we've given him time to wander down to racing balls
15:10and to get his breath back too.
15:11Ted Kravitz has news.
15:12Hey, get my breath back.
15:14Hang on, we're 28 metres below sea level.
15:16We're at the least circuit altitude that you get breathless in.
15:21It's not possible to be lower unless you're in there.
15:23This time, Ted, two days ago, we were both having a little kip on the plane, mate.
15:26Some sort of trench.
15:27I know that you need a nap at this time of the day.
15:29Anyway, now I do.
15:31To wander down to racing balls and to get his breath back too, Ted Kravitz has news.
15:35Hey, get my breath back.
15:37Hang on, we're 28 metres below sea level.
15:39We're at the least circuit altitude that you get breathless in.
15:44It's not possible to be lower unless you're in there.
15:46This time, Ted, two days ago, we were both having a little kip on the plane, mate.
15:49Some sort of trench.
15:50I know that you need a nap at this time of the day.
15:52Anyway, now I do.
15:53Although three hours, the time difference.
15:55So you can get jet-lagged in Baku.
15:57But not me.
15:58I'm loving it down here, even though it's very hot.
16:00Right.
16:01Pedals.
16:01Pedals, Crofty.
16:02Pedals.
16:03Pedals.
16:03Yes, pedals.
16:04It was the pedals which weren't quite right for Arvid Lindblad in the racing balls.
16:10They don't normally change, it's a bit of an odd one, but he did have a stoppage at the
16:14end of free practice one where they had to do some work in the footwell.
16:18When he got into the car just ready for a free practice two, he's still in the garage,
16:21by the way, he felt the pedals were slightly off.
16:24So that's what they were.
16:25You saw they were adjusting.
16:27He is now settled in his racing balls and ready to go out in a moment.
16:32Thank you, Ted.
16:33Great shot from the rear of that Ferrari and seeing the exhaust gases and the way that
16:38they had dissipated as Lewis Hamilton made the left-hand turn at turn two.
16:43There's his boss Fred Vasseur.
16:45Out on track, Liam Lawson goes six fastest.
16:47This is Gabriel Portoletto with a right old rate of knots there, making his way through
16:52turn 14.
16:53It's a great camera angle, to be fair.
16:57And Kimi Antonelli still not out on the track, we reckon, Karun, about another ten minutes?
17:04Yeah, it looks like they were putting it all back together rather than taking bits of
17:08apart when we saw when we saw that shot of Kimi and his father Marco there.
17:13And it looked like they were getting the floor on, which is generally about a 20 minute indicator.
17:18So he'll miss this first run.
17:21But I think he will be in sync when people get off this first tire and put on their,
17:27what we normally see as soft tires.
17:30Portoletto goes ninth fastest.
17:32If you were to ask Max Verstappen about the performance of his car at the moment,
17:35you're not going to get a very pleasant answer, I don't think.
17:39Because every radio message we hear, there's something else that he's not overly happy with.
17:43He has got the fastest time by seven hundredths of a second over Lando Norris.
17:49Norris is on another lap and he has gone 36.8 for the first sector,
17:53which to a few hundredths of a second matches the best time through that part of the lap.
17:59Lots of cars on track. In fact, 20 of them.
18:02So, as we watch George Russell, maybe about to set the fastest lap,
18:06let us go trackside, shall we?
18:08Turn eight is a very good spot to watch cars.
18:11That's why Jacques Villeneuve's there. Jacques.
18:17Hey, hi, how are you? Listen.
18:19This is the best spot to see the cars as far as I'm concerned.
18:25What I've noticed the most is this year the cars are loud.
18:29I can barely hear you. They're very loud.
18:32And it's hard to see them coming, but you can hear them coming.
18:35This corner is great, not because of the speed, but because of how difficult it is,
18:40how precise the drivers have to be because there's nothing round about this corner.
18:45The apex is a point. At the exit, it's a point as well.
18:48It's not a corner that the drivers can lean on, get close to.
18:52They really have to be precise.
18:54And at the same time, fast, take a risk. The corner is blind.
18:57When they arrive and hit the brake, they don't see the exit of the corner.
19:01They just know where the apex is, so they have to go by memory.
19:04And they need a car that pivots quickly, that is reactive,
19:07and that does what the driver wants.
19:08And you can really see which driver here is confident to carry speed in,
19:13how close they get to both walls.
19:15And a tiny little mistake means you lose your two wheels.
19:18We've seen that in the past, and it blocks the track.
19:19It's very tight here.
19:21It's probably one of the corners where the drivers stop breathing for a while
19:24to make sure they don't make a mistake because there's very little time to gain,
19:29but a lot to lose.
19:31And then once you get up to the city up there, it's going up.
19:34It's all blind. It's a little bit easier.
19:36Once you pass this one point here, then you know that you're home free almost.
19:41And some drivers get really, really close to that point.
19:44Other drivers keep a foot or two off, and you can see that they lack the confidence.
19:49But also some cars bounce up a little bit, and the rear end comes around,
19:53and that could clip the barriers.
19:54So until the driver gets into that special quality lap pushing the limit,
20:00they'll always keep a tiny margin.
20:02I'm just surprised you don't see any more drivers clipping the barrier here.
20:06The good thing is the car's a little bit lighter than last year, narrower as well,
20:10so it allows them to be more aggressive through this corner.
20:12But definitely one of the corners on the calendar where you see the talent
20:17or lack of talent of some drivers.
20:19Very impressive and a fun place to be at.
20:22Like I just went through, it was a racing bull.
20:24There was only an inch on that little apex at the exit there.
20:29Very impressive.
20:30Back at you.
20:32Thank you very much.
20:33That was Liam Wilson in the racing bull.
20:36We can pick him up right now.
20:39Oh, that was perilously close to banging the wall in a place.
20:43He didn't want to do it either.
20:45Yeah, he just went in a way too hot.
20:47And this is, I think, this is turn two, isn't it?
20:49Just you can see the dust that's built up away from the racing line.
20:54Who we look at here, that is Lance Stroll.
20:56A little scrapage.
21:00Yep.
21:03Yeah.
21:04Yeah.
21:04I mean, that is the lightest of taps, isn't it?
21:08That's actually...
21:08That's probably what you want, isn't it?
21:10Yeah.
21:10You can just about get away with that.
21:13So, Lewis Hampton, still on a set of media tyres.
21:17Isaac Hajar is the one I want to keep an eye on now, Cofty.
21:19Because he's, I would say, the first of the heavy hitters in the top teams to go on to the
21:25soft tyre.
21:26So, Hajar, he was compromised a little bit, wasn't he?
21:30With a problem in FP1, having missed, of course, the last three weekends.
21:34So, he needs mileage to dial himself back in.
21:38And I wonder if he needs a couple of laps warm up on that soft compound tyre.
21:43He's just been overtaken by Esteban Ocon out on the track.
21:47So, did he have a problem or does he need a couple of laps warm up on that?
21:51Because he should have been going for a fast lap.
21:55Might have gone.
21:56He might have done what Lewis Hamilton did and just go long at Turn 1, I'm being told.
22:01So, that would very much explain why he's boodling around and other cars are overtaking him.
22:06Talking of Lewis Hamilton, here he is.
22:08Out on the track currently on the medium tyre.
22:10Not on the soft tyre as yet.
22:13Racing down the main straight past our hotel, which is round about now-ish, I think.
22:18And going fourth fastest overall.
22:22And a bit off the pace, about eight tenths off the pace.
22:24But these are early stages on the medium and the hard tyre.
22:30Yeah, it's in the middle sector.
22:32He loses a big chunk there, doesn't he?
22:34Lewis got four tenths there, four tenths actually in the last sector as well.
22:40So, yeah, we'll see, as the weekend unfolds,
22:43whether they are able to just change the deployment a little bit for that last sector.
22:50It was a little uncomfortable for Alex Albon, wasn't it?
22:53It's not just drivers, I think, that want to hold their breath and hope for the best.
22:56I'm doing the same every time we ride on board through that section of corners.
23:01We've got a double yellow out on track.
23:04But that gets cleared very quickly, I think, as the Williams just dives off the track to keep out of
23:11the way.
23:11Ted, down to you.
23:12Thank you, Crotty.
23:14Down at Cadillac, where Sergio Perez at the moment 14th.
23:19And I think we should just mark everyone's card about the difference between the cars this weekend in terms of
23:25the engine.
23:25So Perez has taken the new Adduo development upgrade engine from Ferrari.
23:34But Valtteri Bottas does not have one available to him.
23:37And Bottas says the difference is two tenths of a second.
23:41Now, do we think that was what, effectively, the Ferrari upgrade was worth?
23:47I mean, it would be about right.
23:48I think I optimistically said it was about four tenths of a second last time out.
23:52But that's me told.
23:54So Bottas is putting the difference between the upgraded Ferrari engine and the old one at two tenths of a
24:02second.
24:03Wow.
24:05Two tenths of a second.
24:06There were some after that upgrade that didn't really think it was that much either, Ted.
24:11But at least we have a benchmark there.
24:14Go on, Ted.
24:14The other one is we should probably clear up what Ferrari are telling us Charles Leclerc is doing with his
24:21crashed engine from Monza.
24:23So we believe that.
24:26So first of all, the Ferrari spokesman said to me this morning, we won't confirm it either way with you.
24:31But we believe that engine with which Charles had the accident, which is the upgraded engine from Monza.
24:37We believe that is OK.
24:39We believe it's not damaged.
24:40But we've only tested it on the test bench.
24:42We really need to put it in the car and send it around Baku for a few laps.
24:46So we believe it's running today.
24:49Yeah.
24:49And if it's OK, it will stay in the car and it looks OK for the time being.
24:53Thank you, Ted.
24:54Alvid Limblad's hit the wall.
24:55We were riding on board with him and we could see it.
24:58And I think even before we saw it, we had a little feeling in the commentary box that this is
25:02not looking good because it was a bit ragged.
25:05And there's a red flag because the racing balls has come to a standstill.
25:09And it is this section that Jacques Villeneuve was talking about.
25:12Turn eight.
25:12And then, oh, that's why it started looking ragged because he just clipped the wall and then clipped it again.
25:18And no wonder the car is not able to get its way back to the pits.
25:22Oh, that is quite a big bang, isn't it?
25:24Yeah, I've accomplished.
25:26I'm really sorry.
25:28So he was obviously starting out late.
25:30Let's remember, we saw him, you know, they had an issue with the pedals and stuff.
25:33So he's a run behind and did a good lap.
25:37P10 just just behind Liam Lawson, only a tenth behind.
25:41But now he's going to miss out on 40 minutes of running and for a rookie, that's 40 minutes of
25:49valuable running.
25:50He's going to miss out on top of the 10, 12 minutes he missed out on the top.
25:54Yeah, I'm afraid it is as he walks away from the car.
25:58The man who's reached Q3 at the last seven consecutive Grand Prix has competed here in the F2 feature race
26:06last year.
26:07He actually finished sixth and 14th on the grid.
26:09It was a really good race for Arvid Lindblad.
26:11But that is not what he wanted here this afternoon.
26:14Red flag while the car is recovered and the debris is cleaned up.
26:20He's hit the wall and will ride back to the pits in the medical car.
26:37We got the maple. Let's bounce!
26:39Injective one complete.
26:40Maple's secured.
26:41Australia, what you got?
26:44We got eyes on the muffins.
26:47China, what are you saying?
26:51Run.
26:52They want to us!
26:54Run!
26:58The most wanted McDonald's menu items heisted from around the world.
27:02And large haddock and chips and battered sausage and mushy peas.
27:07And with Amex, there's always more.
27:09Oh, and a gherkin.
27:10More travel and experiences and rewards.
27:13So live a life of hands.
27:15And skimming to the good part.
27:17And feeding the excitement up close.
27:19And going full fat.
27:21And taking a moment just to breathe.
27:26Because with Amex, life and business are more rewarding.
27:36People see the races, the speed, the moments on the podium.
27:39But what they don't see is what truly drives performance.
27:42For me, it's the work of the track.
27:45The preparation.
27:46The focus.
27:47The recovery.
27:48Sleep is the foundation.
27:50Whether it's long hours of travel or intense back-to-back races.
27:55Staying sharp and recovered is what makes the difference.
28:1314 nights in the Caribbean from 1499.
28:17I'm gonna need a bigger bucket list.
28:19P&O Cruises.
28:20Holiday like never before.
28:22At all protected.
28:23The Dungeons and Dragons Novels Collection.
28:26A brand new series of fantasy hardbacks filled with magic, monsters and breathtaking adventure.
28:31Issue 1, 299.
28:33Nescafe frothy coffees.
28:35Because sometimes nothing tastes better than a no.
28:38With a creamy, long-lasting froth.
28:41To get you ready for your next yes.
28:44Say yes to cappuccino.
28:48And get ready to mix things up.
28:50With Nescafe chocolate flavours.
28:58You don't have to worry about that.
29:00You don't have to.
29:02How do I know it's a good price?
29:05Because, my love.
29:08There are Aldi prices.
29:12Really?
29:13Only Aldi has Aldi prices on everything in your...
29:18We'll play dirty if we have to.
29:21Let's do this.
29:26It's semi-final time in the Betfred Super League.
29:29Leeds Warrington.
29:31Wigan Wakefield.
29:33All live on Sky Sports.
29:35We'll be all in the place that we dreamed of.
29:37You'd be in Syria.
29:38This community is on the line.
29:39Who's left to stab us?
29:40The Walking Dead.
29:44The Walking Dead.
29:44Dead City.
29:51The Walking Dead.
29:54Dead City.
29:59Clipping the wall.
30:00Not by much, but enough.
30:08Yeah, I'm so sorry.
30:09I think I literally clicked it by like a millimetre.
30:12Sorry.
30:15There's not much room there at all, as Arvid found out.
30:19You can see from off the wall as well now.
30:22The first hit, and then a second one too.
30:25And park the car before.
30:26Any damage could be done to the gearbox.
30:29The car has been now recovered.
30:31There you can see it.
30:31It's very handy that they've got a little gate there to the castle.
30:35It's a UNESCO World Heritage site in that part of Baku as well.
30:39Yeah.
30:39It's very handy that all those years ago they had the foresight
30:43to put a nice archway in so that Formula One cars could be recovered from the track.
30:47Well, I mean, talk about forward planning.
30:49That is it, isn't it?
30:50It's a hell of your time.
30:50It's nearly as good as me marking the restaurant that says Crofty's favourite kebab on my Google Maps
30:59to remind us of where to go tonight.
31:01We have a table reservation.
31:03Crofty kebab night is back on.
31:04I feel I've marked that in about 2019.
31:06There's some forward planning.
31:08And just while we're talking and waiting for the resumption, Karun,
31:12in a whole series of things that were announced in the week for the World Motorsport Council
31:17was the ability in future to extend practice sessions, if we get red flags,
31:23to give the teams, you know, more time on the track and to give fans more action as well.
31:27We've got it with a sprint race weekend.
31:29The provisions are there at the moment, but eminently sensible to actually extend that,
31:35as we did in Madrid last time out, for a normal Grand Prix weekend.
31:39I fully agree.
31:40I'm a bit surprised it hasn't happened until now, really,
31:43because, you know, I've bumped into loads of fans in our hotel who've flown in from the UK.
31:50Some have come from the US.
31:52And, you know, they've come here to watch the three hours of Formula One cars
31:56going round and round the track in free practice.
31:59And practice is a chance where they can walk around to different parts of the track.
32:02And look, we don't want to just be...
32:05We shouldn't be denying them that.
32:07Exactly.
32:08Especially if there's no issues in terms of light and the weather and things like that.
32:14It would be good to extend 10-15, absolutely.
32:17Sensible decisions in Formula One.
32:19Now, there's a booked head that over the years
32:22has probably been a little shorter than it should have been.
32:25Yes, yes.
32:26It's a good idea all round.
32:27Right.
32:28Kimi Antonetti's car is ready.
32:30And he is ready to go.
32:32And everyone in the pit lane now is just waiting for a resumption time.
32:36The pit exit is still closed.
32:39You jump in when there is a resumption time
32:43because George Russell's engine is going quite eagerly behind me.
32:47And Kimi Antonetti's car is just about to be fired up.
32:51So good work by the Mercedes mechanics.
32:54Don't really want to point it out, but I think we should.
32:56That's two in a row for Arvid Lindblad after Madrid.
33:00And do you remember what affected him is that they had a little issue
33:03when they put the car back together after that crash a couple of weeks ago, didn't they, Crofty?
33:09And that's something that Arvid spoke about yesterday when he was saying,
33:13look, the rest of my weekend was compromised because when they put the car back together,
33:18it wasn't quite the same afterwards.
33:22And that meant that he wasn't able to show what he thought he would at the beginning of the weekend.
33:26So hopefully the racing balls and mechanics won't make the same,
33:29won't have the same issue putting that car back together tomorrow.
33:32Yes. Thanks, Ted.
33:34The reason why the cars are all waiting like a sprinter on their blocks for the ready moment,
33:43we're then going to get the get set and the thumbs are up in the air,
33:47is that as soon as a resumption time is announced,
33:50the cars can then leave the garage and get to the end of the pit lane.
33:55So, other than Lance Stroll's car, it seems,
33:59they all want to get out there the minute or the second that we get an announcement.
34:04Now, the only announcement I can give you from the FIA is that cleaning of debris at Turn 7 nearly
34:10complete.
34:12I'm confused by that because it was Turn 8 where Arvid hit the wall,
34:15but I think they mean Turn 8 on that one.
34:18I'm not sure much debris was at Turn 7, but there you go.
34:21And this is the scene. Session resumes 16.29.
34:24We've got 24 seconds and now the stampede of cars out of their garages.
34:30Look at them, like release like a flock of pigeons into the sky or the pit lane as it were.
34:37Go!
34:37Go! Or not yet. Go to the red light.
34:40Go and then wait.
34:42Another five seconds. Here is Kimi Antonelli, the world championship leader,
34:46is back out and he will get at least half the session.
34:51We'll see. Do we think that they're not going to extend it, we think, on normal weekends now.
34:58Well, they could. Let's face it, Remy Marquez, the race director, did it in Madrid.
35:03Yeah.
35:03And it was a really good idea.
35:05Yeah.
35:06And nobody said, well, don't do that again.
35:08In fact, they voted it in so it can happen next year.
35:10So I tell you what, Remy, just in case you're listening, I don't think he is,
35:13we wouldn't be upset if we've got another ten minutes of additional time.
35:18And none of these fans at the grandstand, and we have to remember that.
35:21You know, it's...
35:23We're here...
35:24It's an entertainment business.
35:25It is an entertainment business.
35:27You know, we are absolutely, especially for those in the grandstands here,
35:31who have been sitting around watching leaves fall for the last 20-odd minutes,
35:35it's good for them to see cars going around and around.
35:38That's why they've paid a lot of money to sit in these stands.
35:41I'll tell you what I'm glad about.
35:42Now we've got cars on the track.
35:43They've stopped playing music in the grandstands.
35:46Oh, I'll be bad.
35:47What's happened?
35:49Oh, my engine, Birch.
35:51Oh, no.
35:52Oh, dear.
35:54Oh, that is very disappointing indeed.
35:57And at least he's actually found a gap to try and drive into,
36:01and the marshals can push him away and out of half.
36:07He's only made it to turn two.
36:09He's not very far since the session resumed.
36:12Yes, they were playing music in the grandstands below us.
36:15It was vibrating our commentary box.
36:18Such was the force of the bass.
36:20Hang on.
36:21This is coming from the guy who rocks this heavy metal across the office.
36:26Nothing wrong with that.
36:26It's just I could feel the vibrations in my legs.
36:29The new Anthrax album is brilliant, by the way.
36:32This is what I was playing earlier.
36:34Oli Behrman, let's see what happened at turn two.
36:37It just went straight away.
36:39Yeah, it didn't even get to turn two, and it completely cut out.
36:43It didn't sound like a massive failure.
36:47It didn't look like there was a lot of smoke coming from the car.
36:49My engine switched off.
36:50It just broke.
36:52Yeah, it just off.
36:54Gone.
36:54Similar to Zandvoort.
36:55Sorry, guys.
36:57Similar to Zandvoort.
36:59Yeah, I remember that on the way to the formation lap, wasn't it?
37:03Yeah.
37:03That his engine broke there.
37:06So that's annoying for Behrman, because he was a bit behind us, Ben Ockham, wasn't he?
37:14Yeah.
37:28Yeah.
37:30Yeah.
37:41Yeah.
37:58Yeah.
37:58Yeah.
37:59You can also see how the rear wing, it closed quite early on, and that's an indication of the fact
38:08that he's not ready to do a push lap as well.
38:11Getting your tyres up to temperature for when you cross the line to start a qualifying lap in, not the
38:16easiest thing if Kimi Antonelli goes past him.
38:18Because, of course, you've got that long straight where the tyres cool down a little bit, which is not what
38:23you necessarily want.
38:24Yeah.
38:24Tyres and brakes cooling down when you're about to hit the heaviest braking zone on the track, which is turn
38:29one.
38:29So let's carry on, then, with Kimi Antonelli.
38:32Unsurprisingly, half a second down through the first sector, because he is playing catch-up, a lot of catch-up,
38:38in terms of where he is.
38:40In progression to his peers, and how they tackle the track.
38:43Yeah, the tracks are second quicker than when Antonelli last drove it in the previous session, and they've all had
38:49a chance to get into the rhythm.
38:51And street circuits, in general, they are about rhythm.
38:55It's very hard on a street track to just go out there and hit it straight away on your first
38:59lap.
39:00You could probably do that at a place like Barcelona or Silverstone.
39:03You could get within the last little bit quite quickly.
39:08But on a street circuit, you have to be comfortable with flirting with the walls, getting the movement of the
39:13car underneath you, just understanding where the limits are.
39:17So it's, as you say, entirely unsurprising that he is playing catch-up by a little bit here.
39:24Also, note how much shade and light there is throughout the 3.7 miles, because the buildings and the trees,
39:31a lot of this track is in shade.
39:33So that 45 degrees track temperature might not be representative for the whole circuit, because there will be bits that
39:39have been in the shade for quite a while.
39:41Sixth fastest for Kimi Antonelli. Pierre Gasly has stopped at turn three.
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