The second free practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix began quietly, with the first two minutes passing before any car left the garages. Sauber sent out Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto to lead the field, and soon the rest of the drivers followed.

Only six minutes into the session, the first yellow flags appeared. Liam Lawson ran wide into the escape road at Turn 16, while Lewis Hamilton locked up heavily at Turn 7 and came close to the barriers. Both incidents were quickly cleared, but a few minutes later Oliver Bearman found himself stuck in the run-off at Turn 8 and had to reverse back onto the track, bringing out another caution.

As the action settled, Ferrari moved to the front. Charles Leclerc set the pace first, but soon Hamilton went quicker and established himself at the top. Leclerc was pushing hard and clipped the walls at Turn 3 and later at Turn 4, though he was able to carry on. Meanwhile, Bortoleto was briefly held up by a Mercedes through the fast section leading onto the long straight.

McLaren’s afternoon took a turn when Lando Norris brushed the wall at Turn 2, escaped unharmed, but then suffered a much harder impact at Turn 4 that damaged his suspension and ended his running. Oscar Piastri also had a scare when he touched the TecPro barrier at Turn 15 and later locked up into Turn 2, though he managed to avoid serious damage and continued. Elsewhere, Bearman had another trip through the Turn 8 run-off, Carlos Sainz tapped the wall in his Williams at Turn 16, and Leclerc once again ran wide at Turn 4.

After the first half-hour of action, Hamilton remained at the top of the standings, with Ferrari looking strong. The final stages of the session were calmer, as teams switched to long runs and tyre comparisons. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli placed their Mercedes cars just behind the Ferraris, while Haas showed good pace with Bearman and Esteban Ocon both inside the top eight.

At the chequered flag, it was Lewis Hamilton who finished fastest for Ferrari with a 1:41.293, only 0.074s ahead of Charles Leclerc. George Russell ended the session in third place, followed closely by Kimi Antonelli in fourth. Oliver Bearman impressed with fifth, ahead of Max Verstappen in sixth. Liam Lawson claimed seventh, Esteban Ocon took eighth, Alexander Albon was ninth, and despite his crash, Lando Norris completed the top ten.