Max Verstappen headed the times across the opening practice hour at Formula 1‘s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as Charles Leclerc and Franco Colapinto caused stoppages.
Verstappen set a 1:45.546s on the Soft compound as the chequered flag had dropped to go three-tenths quicker than Lewis Hamilton to seize top spot in FP1 in Baku.
The teams’ run plans were disrupted, however, as Leclerc, who was the quickest driver at that time, went in too deep at Turn 15 and headed straight on into the barrier.
Leclerc’s shunt into the wall marked the second red flag in the session as proceedings ground to a halt when a marshall was forced to retrieve a stranded metal piece.
But although the Monegasque’s stricken Ferrari was removed with 25 minutes remaining, Colapinto prompted a third interruption when he went into the wall at Turn 4.
Hamilton’s benchmark prior to that stoppage was unbeaten until the death when Verstappen put in a time that elevated his Red Bull to the top, with Sergio Perez third.
Norris half a second off the pace
Lando Norris slotted his McLaren into fourth place, with Carlos Sainz in the sole-running Ferrari at the end splitting the McLaren drivers as Oscar Piastri came in sixth.
Fernando Alonso ended up seventh in the lead Aston Martin, ahead of George Russell, who was over six-tenths behind Mercedes team-mate Hamilton, in eighth place.
Leclerc remained in ninth despite being unable to conduct an outing on the red-walled compound, while Daniel Ricciardo completed the top 10 order in the leading RB.
Oliver Bearman, making his second F1 appearance this weekend as the banned Kevin Magnussen’s replacement, edged out Haas team-mate Nico Hulkenberg to 11th.
Lance Stroll, who bemoaned his Aston Martin car being undriveable, was next, with Valtteri Bottas 1.4s faster than Sauber team-mate Guanyu Zhou to prop up in 14th.
Yuki Tsunoda was 15th in the RB, leading the two Williams drivers. Pierre Gasly was 18th, as Esteban Ocon in the second Alpine was sidelined with an engine problem.
