Hamilton leads Ferrari one-two in Baku practice, Norris hits wall

BAKU : Lewis Hamilton led Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari one-two in practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Friday while McLaren's title contender Lando Norris hit the wall.

Seven-times world champion Hamilton, yet to stand on the Formula One podium since he joined Ferrari in January, slipstreamed Leclerc to lap the Baku street circuit in one minute 41.293 seconds.

Teammate Charles Leclerc, on pole position in Baku for the past four seasons without once winning the race, was 0.074 slower.

Hamilton had clipped the barriers in the first session - when he ended up 13th - and damaged his car's front wing as well as suffering a puncture.

It was the McLaren drivers' turn in the later afternoon with Norris losing control at turn four and smashing his car's suspension, ending up 10th despite playing no further part in proceedings.

Piastri then had his own brush with the wall, this time without damage, and was 12th.

The Australian is 31 points clear of Norris with eight rounds remaining and while that battle is set to run, McLaren can clinch the constructors' title for the second year in a row on Sunday.

Mercedes' George Russell, who was unwell on Thursday and missed the scheduled media day, completed the top three in practice two but 0.477 off Hamilton's time. Teammate Kimi Antonelli was fourth.

Oliver Bearman, who has to be careful to avoid a mandatory one-race ban due to accumulated penalty points, was fifth fastest for Haas.

Norris had been fastest in a red-flagged first session with a time of 1:42.704. Piastri was second, 0.310 slower, after the team fixed a power unit problem he suffered on his opening lap.

The first hour-long session was halted for some 25 minutes for kerb repairs.

"There was debris on the track that wasn't from a