George Russell topped an Azerbaijan Grand Prix FP1 that was more a reliability test than a practice session: a brake fire, a dead Red Bull, a smoking Mercedes, two virtual safety cars and a McLaren held together with a cable tie.
Baku gave nobody an easy start. With the track at 50.2ºC, Isack Hadjar and Oscar Piastri were both on the radio about brake problems within the opening laps, and the conditions punished anyone who pushed. Max Verstappen locked up his fronts, and George Russell only just made the corner at the end of the straight, running into the run-off and missing the barriers by inches. Clean push laps were hard to find.
Fire in the Williams pitlane
Carlos Sainz’s session went up in smoke less than 20 minutes in. His Williams came into the pitlane with the rear brakes on fire. The crew put it out and turned straight to the brake ducts and rear suspension to look for damage. The timing hurts: Williams brought upgrades to Baku, and every lap lost is data they won’t have on the new parts going into qualifying.
Hadjar’s Red Bull gives up
Hadjar’s brake complaint turned out to be the smaller problem. “Was the engine, I think. Something’s really wrong,” he reported. He was told to stay in second gear and coast back to the pits, and he did, clearly unhappy with his opening laps. The Red Bull didn’t look like it would go back out before the end of FP1.
VSC one: Antonelli’s hydraulics
The first virtual safety car came out when Kimi Antonelli lost hydraulics at Turn 7. He climbed out of a smoking Mercedes, and marshals emptied extinguishers into it as a precaution, even though there were no visible flames.
McLaren’s afternoon unravels
Lando Norris had been on a lap that looked quick enough to go top, but he abandoned it and pitted before setting a time. It soon became clear something was wrong at McLaren. With 20 minutes left, both cars were in the garage. Norris’s car was damaged, with mechanics swarming over it, and Piastri’s had been switched off. Norris went back out with seven minutes remaining, with part of the car held on by a cable tie.
Audi find the tow
Audi spent part of the session practising the move that matters most in Baku. On a straight this long, a tow is worth real lap time. Gabriel Bortoleto towed Nico Hülkenberg across the line, and the German jumped to sixth. But Hülkenberg has finished the session in 11th.
VSC two: a messy finish
The session didn’t end cleanly either. Arvid Lindblad stopped in the run-off late on, bringing out a second VSC, before he got his car going again. Hülkenberg was less fortunate: he stopped too and climbed out while marshals pushed his Audi clear. Esteban Ocon then stalled at the pit exit before eventually getting away.
Few teams got through the hour without drama.
READ MORE – F1 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – FP1 Results
Discussion about this post