Verstappen fastest in disrupted FP1 at Azerbaijan GP

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was the fastest driver out in a red-flag-filled session in the First Practice session of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, on the Baku street circuit.

Feature image credit: Red Bull Content Pool

Three red flags plagued Baku’s first hour of running, including big shunts from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with 30 minutes to go and Williams’ Franco Colapinto.

Leclerc found the barrier on the exit of turn 19, on the downhill section, bringing out the second red flag, the first was for debris. The heavy shunt significantly damaged his front-right suspension but the Monegasque was unharmed. 

Colapinto crashed later on as he failed to collect a snap of oversteer, mid-corner, at turn four which sent the rear of his Williams into the barrier before the front snapped into the barrier. The Argentine apologised for his shunt. 

So who finished where after FP1?

FP1 classification

On the last lap of the session, Verstappen topped the timing boards with a 1m 45.546s lap on the board as both Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and – Red Bull teammate – Sergio Perez completed the top three, three-tenths behind. 

McLaren’s championship contender, Lando Norris completed the session in fourth ahead of his former teammate and Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz who was fifth. 

Oscar Piastri, of McLaren, led the rest of the field inside the top 10 in sixth with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Mercedes’ George Russell in seventh and eighth respectively. Leclerc and RB’s Daniel Ricciardo completed the top 10, the latter was 1.141s off the pace. 

Haas’ Oliver Bearman – who was in to replace Kevin Magnussen who was serving a race ban – completed the session ahead of his teammate Nico Hulkenberg as the Haas duo completed the session in 11th and 12th. 

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda completed the top 15, in 13th, 14th and 15th. 

Colapinto was down in 16th before his crash at turn 4 but the Argentine had finished ahead of his teammate, Alexander Albon who occupied 17th. 

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was 18th at the end of the hour as the second-slowest driver out on track, only ahead of Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu. 

Gasly’s teammate, Esteban Ocon, was the 20th driver having not set a representative lap time due to power unit issues. Only three laps were completed for the Frenchman. 

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Aston Martin F1 confirm Adrian Newey signing
• Adrian Newey’s future to be confirmed today?
• Bearman to step in for Banned Magnussen at Azerbaijan GP
• The wait continues on Adrian Newey future with announcement expected
• McLaren drivers describe Italian GP ‘painful’ and ‘frustrating’ after losing to Leclerc
• Kevin Magnussen banned from F1 Azerbaijan GP after hitting max penalty points
• Leclerc storms to Italian GP win with ambitious one-stop strategy

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.