Max Verstappen was quickest by three tenths of a second from Lewis Hamilton in a disrupted opening practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc and Franco Colapinto both crashed out in the first hour of practice as three red flags interrupted proceedings at the Baku City Circuit.The first practice session of the weekend would be an eye-opening experience for the two rookies in the field. Williams driver Colapinto had never driven the Baku circuit before, while Oliver Bearman prepared for his first Friday session for a grand prix he would race in.
Oscar Piastri immediately reported very low grip on the street circuit surface. Almost all drivers headed out on medium tyres for their first runs of the weekend, with Lewis Hamilton setting the early benchmark with a 1’47.618.
The session was stopped early on by a red flag for debris, which was quickly cleared by the marshals. Once the session resumed, Leclerc headed back out on the same set of medium tyres that he had run on earlier, posting the fastest time with a 1’46.608, with Verstappen just under half a tenth slower in second.
As Leclerc improved in the first sector on his 11th lap, the Ferrari driver ran onto the dusty outside of the track on the approach to turn 15, locked up and speared into the barrier. With the front of the Ferrari severely damaged, Leclerc’s session was finished and practice was red flagged for a second time.
When practice resumed, several drivers switched attention to soft tyres. Hamilton went fastest of all with a 1’45.859, only for practice to be suspended once again seconds later when Colapinto crashed into the wall at the exit of turn four. Thankfully the Williams driver appeared to be unharmed, but the same could not be said for his car.
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Practice resumed for the final time with 11 minutes remaining, with Verstappen going within half a tenth of the Mercedes. However, when the chequered flag fell at the end of the hour, Verstappen posted his best time of the session on six-lap-old soft tyres to beat Hamilton to the fastest time by three tenths of a second, securing him as the quickest driver of first practice.
Behind Hamilton, Sergio Perez was half a tenth behind the Mercedes in third with Lando Norris in fourth having only set his best lap on mediums. Carlos Sainz Jnr, Oscar Piastri and Fernando Alonso were all within a second of Verstappen’s best, as was George Russell in eighth. Leclerc ended the session ninth despite crashing out, with Daniel Ricciardo completing the top ten ahead of Haas pair Bearman and Nico Hulkenberg, the latter having set his best time with a DRS fault.
Esteban Ocon failed to set a timed lap in the hour after reporting a lack of power on an out lap in his Alpine.
2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix first practice result
Times to follow.
2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
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Leo B
13th September 2024, 11:52
Leclerc, the practice crash king. He’s extracting more than the car can give.
Jonathan Parkin
13th September 2024, 13:01
I know it’s early days, but Franco (and Williams) didn’t need another practice crash. It was ultimately this that caused Logan’s dismissal after all
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
14th September 2024, 1:15
Yes, but it wasn’t just the crashes, it’s just that sargeant most of the time was incredibly slow and crashing on top, as long as this colapinto is consistently close to albon he can afford some crash.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
14th September 2024, 1:15
Yes, but it wasn’t just the crashes, it’s just that sargeant most of the time was incredibly slow and crashing on top, as long as this colapinto is consistently close to albon he can afford some crash.
Ben
13th September 2024, 11:56
But RedBull are the 4th fastest car!
Matthijs (@matthijs)
13th September 2024, 16:34
Could still be. Based on the number of championship points and victories, they are indeed the 4th fastest car over the last 5 or 6 races.
Manto
13th September 2024, 11:58
End of championship hopes for Mclaren
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
13th September 2024, 12:38
I’m so sick of these championship deciders in free practice sessions 2/3 of a way through a season. The FIA really must do something to prevent this happening in future.
t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
13th September 2024, 14:32
Agree. Just like FP1 at Monza where Max was quickest, then went on to win the GP by a mile….oh wait he didn’t! ;)
David (@nvherman)
13th September 2024, 15:22
How many points are awarded for FP1 exactly?
Jere (@jerejj)
13th September 2024, 12:02
Colapinto’s error shows that people should never make definitive conclusions about a driver based on a single event, especially when Monza is the location in question for a debut.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
13th September 2024, 18:51
People shouldn’t also make conclusions on a FP1, specially at a place like Baku that’s built for the GP and it’s tricky and dusty. After all Leclerc also shunted.
AlanD
13th September 2024, 12:06
This plays into what I was saying recently, that when the car is massively quick, both drivers will be close at the top, regardless of how good or bad the second driver is. When the car is less impressive, the gap between drivers is amplified. Pere is probably thinking now that his third place in this session vindicates his less than stellar performances.