Verstappen tops order as Hamilton trails in Baku

Lewis Hamilton finished only tenth in second practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix 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 in Azerbaijan’s capital city of Baku, was fifth in the opening session,and could manage only tenth 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 team-mate 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 at the street circuit which runs against the picturesque backdrop of the old city’s walls, 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, the 26-yearold 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, who is already due to start tomorrow’s race from the back of the grid following a series of engine penalties, launched his headrest out of his Mclaren as he ground to a halt.

“Engine, engine,” the frustrated Spaniard said. Mclaren are the only team yet to score a point this season and their relationship with Honda is now at an all-time low.

Although Verstappen, pictured, set the fastest times in both sessions yesterday, the Dutchman ended the afternoon in the wall at turn one on an otherwise impressive day for his Red Bull team.