In a thrilling second practice session at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc made an impressive comeback after his FP1 crash to claim the top spot. Leclerc narrowly beat out Sergio Perez by a mere 0.006 seconds, denying Red Bull a clean sweep of the Friday practice sessions.

Earlier in the day, Leclerc endured a crash at Turn 15 during FP1, which forced Ferrari to repair his car. The Monegasque driver expressed frustration over the rebuilt SF-24, complaining about a heavy steering. Despite this setback, Leclerc returned to the track in FP2 and embarked on a few exploratory laps on the medium tires after experiencing handling struggles and electing to pit.

Leclerc's determination paid off when he set a blistering time of 1m43.484s on the soft tires, surpassing Perez's earlier time. Max Verstappen initially took control of the session by topping the leaderboard, closely followed by Perez, who impressed with an impressive lap on the medium tires.

Carlos Sainz also showcased his skills by setting the medium-tyre benchmark with a time of 1m44.323s before the teams switched to the softer compound. However, it was Leclerc who ultimately stole the show with his brilliant lap, edging out Perez by a hair's breadth.

Lewis Hamilton, on a set of used soft tires, managed to close the gap to Perez, finishing just 0.06 seconds behind the Mexican driver. Sainz, despite being under investigation for potentially impeding Perez, secured a respectable third place, followed by Oscar Piastri from McLaren in fifth.

Lando Norris encountered trouble when Pierre Gasly inadvertently disrupted his hot lap due to a battery issue. As a result, Norris finished 17th in the timing order. Verstappen settled for sixth place, trailing Leclerc by half a second, while Lance Stroll came within a tenth of the championship leader.

Other notable performances in FP2 included Nico Hulkenberg in eighth place, George Russell who encountered early car issues and finished ninth, and Oliver Bearman, who made his debut for Haas and rounded off the top 10.

The intense battle between Leclerc and Perez sets the stage for an exciting qualifying session tomorrow. With Ferrari showing improvements and Red Bull proving their pace, fans around the world eagerly await the upcoming action at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.