Hamilton’s Baku struggles as Verstappen sets pace

Lewis Hamilton finished only 10th in second practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix yesterday as Fernando Alonso succumbed to further engine woes.

Hamilton, who trails title leader Sebastian Vettel by 12 points ahead of the eighth round of the championship here in Azerbaijan’s capital city of Baku, was fifth in the opening session.

And the Briton could manage only 10th later in the day as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped the order while Vettel finished fifth.

Hamilton’s time – he finished 1.1 seconds adrift of Verstappen and one second slower than his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas – is slightly skewed because the triple world champion did not post a lap on the super-soft tyre, the quickest of the three Pirelli compounds available this weekend, after Jolyon Palmer crashed into the wall at turn eight.

Palmer’s incident, midway through the 90-minute session, resulted in the action being temporarily suspended as they removed the under-fire Briton’s mangled Renault and the ensuing debris.

It was another day to forget for Palmer, with the 26-year-old facing mounting speculation that he could soon be replaced, and so too for Alonso after his Honda engine conked out with 30 minutes remaining.

Alonso is already due to start tomorrow’s race from the back of the grid following a series of engine penalties

Daniel Ricciardo was third in the sister Red Bull, with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen fourth.

Lewis Hamilton in the pit lane during practice yesterday.