Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas led the way during the opening practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as Max Verstappen crashed.
Several drivers enjoyed spells atop the timesheets as conditions gradually improved around the six-kilometre street venue as the session progressed, with various tyre compounds trialled.
Bottas used the Ultrasoft tyres, the softest available compound this weekend, to set a time of 1:42.242 in warm conditions at the Baku City Circuit.
In full: Azerbaijan GP FP1 results
Daniel Ricciardo emerged as Bottas’ closest challenger, closing to within 0.025s of the Finn, as he used the Supersoft tyres on his quickest run.
Bottas and Ricciardo held a sizeable advantage over the chasing pack, which was led by Force India’s Sergio Perez, as the team built on its previous fine form at the venue.
Perez had sat in fifth spot but a late lap hauled him up to third position, while team-mate Esteban Ocon ultimately collected fifth, the pair sandwiching Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen’s difficult start to the season continued as he crashed just half an hour into the session.
Verstappen lost control of the rear of his RB14 as he turned into the left-hander at Turn 5 and his car snapped sideways, and he suffered a side-on impact with the barriers.
Verstappen’s incident was covered by the Virtual Safety Car, and he took no further part in the session, though his early lap on Softs remained good enough for sixth.
Fernando Alonso placed seventh for McLaren, 2.2s behind leader Bottas, while Williams enjoyed its strongest showing of the season to date.
Sergey Sirotkin classified eighth, just 0.015s behind Alonso, while 2017 podium finisher Lance Stroll finished in 11th spot, as the team bids for its first points of the year.
Ferrari had a low-key session, with Sebastian Vettel in 10th position and Kimi Raikkonen further behind in 15th place, the latter missing the closing stages of proceedings while work was undertaken on his SF71-H.
Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly moved into ninth with a late effort, moving him above the aforementioned Vettel and Stroll, while team-mate Brendon Hartley followed.
While Force India and Williams had better-than-expected sessions, standout midfielders Renault and Haas slipped down the order, with Nico Hulkenberg 13th and Romain Grosjean 15th.
Hulkenberg had a substantial lock-up into Turn 1 that caused vibrations, while a similar fate befell Carlos Sainz Jr., who finished at the rear of the 20-car pack.
Kevin Magnussen, meanwhile, was a lowly 18th, while McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne was also off-radar, taking 19th position.
Several drivers had off-track excursions or minor brushes with Baku's walls, though Verstappen was the only driver to suffer a sizeable impact.
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