Max Verstappen’s final lap in a disrupted opening practice for the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix saw the Red Bull driver top the timesheet with a 1:45.546s effort.
The Dutchman was three-tenths of a second clear of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez half a tenth further back in third.
Verstappen heads FP1 in Baku as Leclerc and Colapinto crash
Verstappen’s title-rival Lando Norris went fourth for McLaren with a 1:46.027s tour of the Baku City Circuit with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz rounding out the top five.
Norris’ McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri was sixth, 0.736s off of Verstappen’s ultimate pace with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Mercedes’ George Russell in seventh and eighth respectively.
Charles Leclerc went top early on and crashed soon after, resigning him to ninth with RB’s Daniel Ricciardo completing the top-10.
You can review the full FP1 results below.
Position | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:45.546 | 20 | ||||
2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:45.859 | 0.313 | 18 | |||
3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1:46.922 | 0.376 | 16 | |||
4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:46.027 | 0.481 | 17 | |||
5 | Carlos Sainz Jr | Ferrari | 1:46.173 | 0.627 | 20 | |||
6 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:46.282 | 0.736 | 17 | |||
7 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:46.452 | 0.906 | 18 | |||
8 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:46.516 | 0.970 | 17 | |||
9 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:46.608 | 1.062 | 11 | |||
10 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | 1:46.687 | 1.141 | 22 | |||
11 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 1:46.973 | 1.427 | 22 | |||
12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 1:47.135 | 1.589 | 19 | |||
13 | Lance Stroll | Sauber | 1:47.184 | 1.638 | 15 | |||
14 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | 1:47.640 | 2.094 | 17 | |||
15 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 1:47.708 | 2.162 | 20 | |||
16 | Franco Colapinto | Williams | 1:47.901 | 2.355 | 12 | |||
17 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1:47.955 | 2.409 | 17 | |||
18 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:48.712 | 3.166 | 20 | |||
19 | Guanyu Zhou | Sauber | 1:49.052 | 3.506 | 18 | |||
20 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 3 |