Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsRace weekend

Bottas leads the way in FP1 but Verstappen hits a wall

Valtteri Bottas topped the timesheet in Friday's first free practice session in Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He edged out Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and his own Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton.

The Finn clocked in with a best lap of 1m44.242s executed on Pirelli's ultrasoft tyre after a decent session for the Silver Arrows outfit. But in the Red Bull camp, Max Verstappen ended his morning prematurely with a significant brush with the barriers.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Free Practice 1

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:44.242s		26
2	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:44.277s	+ 0.035s	24
3	Sergio Pérez	Force India	1:45.075s	+ 0.833s	26
4	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:45.200s	+ 0.958s	24
5	Esteban Ocon	Force India	1:45.237s	+ 0.995s	29
6	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:45.559s	+ 1.317s	11
7	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:46.465s	+ 2.223s	25
8	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	1:46.480s	+ 2.238s	28
9	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	1:46.492s	+ 2.250s	18
10	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:46.513s	+ 2.271s	18
11	Lance Stroll	Williams	1:46.590s	+ 2.348s	26
12	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	1:46.747s	+ 2.505s	32
13	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	1:46.749s	+ 2.507s	11
14	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:46.856s	+ 2.614s	23
15	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:46.861s	+ 2.619s	10
16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	1:46.875s	+ 2.633s	21
17	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:47.073s	+ 2.831s	21
18	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:47.434s	+ 3.192s	18
19	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	1:47.967s	+ 3.725s	21
20	Carlos Sainz	Renault	1:48.741s	+ 4.499s	11

Baku dawned warm and sunny, but drivers were challenged from the outset by the venue's green track that produced a few hairy moments early on for some.

Bottas best effort was 0.035s faster than Ricciardo, but the Aussie completed his lap on the theoretically supersoft tyre.

A surprise pair of visitors to the top five, given their recent relative under-performance, was the Force India duo of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon.

The Mexican clocked in third overall, with his team mate fifth. They were just behind Mercedes' Hamilton who ran diligently through his FP1 programs, setting his best time on the ultrasoft rubber but without forcing any issues.

Despite his limited running following his crash half-way through the morning, when he lost the rear of his RB14 under braking for Turn Five, Verstappen managed to secure sixth.

Fernando Alonso placed his McLaren P7 in front of Sergey Sirotkin and an upbeat Williams while Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel rounded off the top ten.

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.