Luca Ghiotto sets the pace in F2 free practice at Baku

Photo: FIA Formula 2

Formula 2 championship leader Luca Ghiotto topped free practice at the Baku street circuit, heading fellow series veterans Nobuharu Matsushita and Jordan King.

Virtuosi Racing’s Ghiotto and Carlin’s Matsushita traded first place throughout the session, with Ghiotto putting down his benchmark in the final seconds. He ended up being 0.282 seconds faster than Matsushita, who was just over a tenth clear of MP Motorsport’s Jordan King.

Some distance behind the top three was ART Grand Prix’s Nyck de Vries and DAMS’ Nicholas Latifi, split by just 0.005 seconds.

Up next were Ferrari juniors Mick Schumacher (Prema) and Callum Ilott (Sauber Junior Team by Charouz), who both got their first taste of Formula 1 machinery after the season-opening F2 round in Bahrain, and got particularly close to the barriers on several occasions in Baku.

Sergio Sette Camara (DAMS), Juan Manuel Correa (Sauber by Charouz) and Sean Gelael (Prema) completed the top 10, and were the only other drivers to get within two seconds of the frontrunners.

Slowest of all in free practice was King’s team-mate Mahaveer Raghunathan, who, in addition to being slower than the 107% time normally required to enter the races, had several offs.

Free Practice results