Max Verstappen topped Friday’s opening practice in Baku, the championship leader looking quite competitive at the wheel of Red Bull’s RB20 in a session interrupted by no less than three red flags.
The Dutchman dialed in the speed in the closing stages of the session to comfortably edge Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton by 0.313s, while Sergio Perez further validating Red Bull’s early progress by completing the top three.
Charles Leclerc was unfortunately among the unwilling victims of Baku’s green track, the Ferrari driver ending his session early and causing the second red flag of the day after clouting the barriers and damaging his SF-24.
Almost the entire F1 field exited the pitlane as soon as the session kicked off, which was no surprise given the ‘green’ nature of Baku’s track.
As a reminder, Ollie Bearman is subbing for Kevin Magnussen at Haas this weekend, the young Briton undertaking his second career race in F1 ahead of his full-time drive with the US outfit in 2025.
As everyone was ramping up their speed and lap times started to tumble, the red flag was brandished, apparently to clear the track of an unknown piece of debris.
The session resumed after a short pause and with Verstappen having set the early pace ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton.
There was trouble in the Alpine camp when Esteban Ocon radioed in to signal a sudden loss of power. The Frenchman was nevertheless able to nurse his car back to its base for his crews to have a deep look into the problem.
Leclerc pushed to the top as the session reached its halfway mark, but the Monegasque, pressing on, overdid it when he locked up on the dirty side of the track as he entered Baku’s Turn 15, planting his car head on into the TecPro barrier and heavily damaging the SF-24’s front right corner.
Another red flag ensued to carry the stricken Ferrari out of harm’s way and back to its garage. When the session resumed, grip remained at a premium which caused several drivers to run down various escape roads.
Shortly after Norris and Piastri had gone 1-2, Hamilton overhauled the McLaren duo. But another red flag disrupted proceedings when Williams rookie Franco Colapinto lost the rear of his car at Turn 4 and slid into the barrier, damaging the right side of his FW 46.
Again, speedy work by the marshals minimized the pause, leaving drivers with ten minutes of running on the clock.
Sainz popped up to third, behind Hamilton and Norris, but a dialed in Verstappen, looking quite handy at the wheel of Red Bull’s upgraded – and seemingly improved – RB20 slotted into P2.
Only the lack of a significant tow in Baku’s final sector deprived the championship leader of P1.
But as the session entered its final minutes, and the track improved its grip levels, Verstappen further asserted himself and eventually went fastest, edging Hamilton by a comfortable 0.313s, while Perez appeared equally on good from as he seized third.
Norris, Sainz and Piastri completed the top six, while Fernando Alonso, Russell, Leclerc and RB’s Daniel Ricciardo – a former winner in Baku – rounded off the top ten.
The second half of the field saw Bearman outpace his Haas teammate Nico Hulkenberg, while Colapinto, despite his early off, also preceded Alex Albon in the Williams camp.
Teams and driver will be hoping a less tense and chaotic second free practice this afternoon in Baku.
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