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Azerbaijan GP Practice Two: Max Verstappen fastest again, Lewis Hamilton 10th

Verstappen fastest from Bottas before late crash; Hamilton 10th on soft tyres; Alonso suffers more unreliability; Palmer crashes at castle chicane

Max Verstappen was fastest once again in Practice Two for the Azerbaijan GP as drivers struggled to cope with the slippery surface of the Baku circuit and McLaren suffered more unreliability.

After heading a Red Bull one-two in the opening session, Verstappen's 1:43.362 saw him top the timesheet in P2, a tenth of a second ahead of Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas and team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

But the teenager locked up and crashed into the barriers at Turn One in the closing seconds, causing significant damage to the left-hand side and rear of his RB13.

Championship leader Sebastian Vettel was fifth behind Kimi Raikkonen, but Lewis Hamilton was only 10th, 1.1 seconds off Verstappen's time.

However, the Briton's time was set on the soft tyre as his running was disrupted by Jolyon Palmer crashing into the barriers at the castle chicane which brought out a red flag.

"I think you need to get into a rhythm in Baku, do laps to gain confidence and have the tyres in the right window," Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said.

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The key incidents from Practice One and Practice Two of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

"We had a bit of a messy session, a lot of traffic, a lot of yellow flags and we didn't put him out at the right time."

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And there were yet more problems for McLaren-Honda as Fernando Alonso ground to a halt mid-way through the session. Although Alonso said "engine, engine" over the radio after stopping with smoke coming from the rear of his car, team chief Eric Boullier later said a gearbox failure had been the cause of the stoppage.

The Spaniard is already facing a 15-place grid penalty after a new MGU-H and turbo charger were installed in his car for this weekend's race as Honda introduced new parts.

The session was heavily disjointed as all the drivers struggled for grip on low-fuel runs and yellow flags were regularly deployed as cars ended up in run-off zones.

Romain Grosjean particularly struggled in his Haas, describing his brake problems as "ridiculous" and ending the session with the slowest time.

Lance Stroll followed up his first points finish in Canada last time out with an impressive sixth place, while Force India again displayed their pace around Baku with both Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon in the top 10.

But the pressure will continue to grow on Palmer, who arrived in Azerbaijan in the wake of Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul saying he had to start delivering.

The 26-year-old was caught out at Turn Eight and hit the barriers, damaging his front wing and front suspension.

Practice Two Timesheet
1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:43.362
2. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, +0.100
3. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, +0.111
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, +0.127
5. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, +0.253
6. Lance Stroll, Williams, +0.751
7. Sergio Perez, Force India, +0.944
8. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, +0.959
9. Esteban Ocon, Force India, +1.122
10. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, +1.163
11. Felipe Massa, Williams, +1.247
12. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, +2.153
13. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, +2.371
14. Kevin Magnussen, Haas, +2.469
15. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, +2.641
16. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, +2.699
17. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, +2.812
18. Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber, +3.788
19. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, +3.985
20. Romain Grosjean, Haas, +4.360

*All times set on the supersoft tyre bar Perez, Hamilton, Hulkenberg and Grosjean.

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