Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the fastest time during opening practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Formula 1 returned to the Baku City Circuit for the first time in over two years.
Formula 1’s visit to Baku was cancelled in 2020 amid the pandemic but the event has returned this year, in its original June spot, having been shifted to April in 2018 and 2019.
The event is nonetheless taking place behind closed doors, though is set to be the last to do so, with 15,000 spectators expected at the next round in France, and greater capacity at following grands prix in Austria and Britain.
The opening one-hour session took place in hot and sunny conditions on Friday afternoon and title leader Verstappen went quickest with a 1:43.184s.
The effort left him just 0.043s faster than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, as their respective team-mates classified third and fourth, with Carlos Sainz a tenth clear of Sergio Perez.
Mercedes further down the leaderboard
Mercedes enters the sixth round of the season not leading the championship for the first time since mid-2018 and its cars finished a low-key seventh and 10th.
Lewis Hamilton, at one point the leader of the session, was shuffled down to seventh, with his Soft tyre run scuppered by a wide moment at Turn 15, having also encountered traffic on another lap.
Valtteri Bottas, meanwhile, was only at the foot of the top 10, having had to take to the escape round at Turn 2.
Elsewhere Daniel Ricciardo was fifth, showing glimpses of pace after his difficult Monaco weekend, with McLaren team-mate Lando Norris eighth.
Norris had been on course for a much quicker lap but took too much inside kerb through Turn 16 and rotated his McLaren.
Pierre Gasly was an eye-catching sixth as he maintained his recent form for AlphaTauri, while Fernando Alonso snuck Alpine into the top 10 with a late lap that placed him ninth.
Offs, spins and escape roads
Several drivers had to take to the escape roads during the session as Formula 1 drivers got up to speed at the Baku City Circuit.
Yuki Tsunoda spent several minutes in the Turn 4 run-off, having clipped the wall on entry, before he was eventually able to return the AlphaTauri AT02 to the circuit, having carried out a three-point turn.
Fellow rookie Nikita Mazepin made minor contact with the wall exiting Turn 16 after spinning through the corner but was able to return to the pit lane without substantial damage to the Haas VF-21.
Haas, as expected, finished adrift of the pack, with Mick Schumacher 1.2s behind nearest opponent Nicholas Latifi, as Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin and Williams occupied the lower part of the midfield spots.
Friday’s second practice session is scheduled for 16:00 local time
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