Lewis Hamilton acknowledged Ferrari face a significant performance deficit heading into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend after the team dropped more than a second off the leading pace during Thursday practice in Baku.
Hamilton and Charles Leclerc showed early promise in Free Practice 1, finishing third and fourth respectively, just four tenths of a second behind the session’s fastest time on medium Pirelli tyres. By Free Practice 2, however, the gap had widened sharply, with Leclerc fourth and 1.1 seconds off the pace, and Hamilton a further two tenths behind in fifth.
“FP1 felt really strong, continuous laps, I thought we were doing pretty well,” Hamilton said. “And then FP2, for some reason, the others just took another step. And it’s trying to understand… We didn’t really change anything on the car, but the others took a step somehow.”
Hamilton pointed to tyre management as a key factor behind Ferrari’s struggles, describing the Pirelli compounds as extremely difficult to bring into their operating window on the Baku street circuit. “These tyres are really, really difficult to get to work. You do an out lap and a prep lap, and they still are not in the window, or they still don’t provide you with the grip. And when you do an extra lap, all of a sudden they switch on, and all of a sudden you have tons more grip.”
The seven-time world champion also flagged a straight-line speed disadvantage compared to Mercedes as an area requiring attention before qualifying. “Our straight-line speed is not as good as Mercedes. Whether or not we can close that deficit tomorrow is what I will try and work on tonight.”
Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur urged caution in reading too much into the practice timesheets, noting that McLaren — who set the benchmark pace — had not completed a clean lap. He also referenced the team’s difficult history at the venue. “If you have a look at last year, we were in a very good shape and we finished 10th and 11th, I think, in Qualifying,” Vasseur said. “Let’s be focused on what we have to do and try to extract the best.”
Ferrari have slipped behind McLaren in the competitive order in recent rounds despite appearing as Mercedes’ closest challenger earlier in the season, adding further pressure on the Scuderia to recover form on a circuit that has historically exposed their weaknesses.