George Russell tops opening hour of Azerbaijan Grand Prix practice

Mercedes George Russell topped the timing boards of the opening practice session at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, pipping Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by four-tenths of a second.

Feature image credit: Courtesy of Pirelli

With the adjusted schedule of the Azerbaijan GP this weekend, due to the Azerbaijan remembrance day, the action got underway on Thursday with the opening practice session in what was a clean, but eventful opening hour at the Baku City Circuit.

The timing sheets were ultimately topped by Mercedes’ championship contender, Russell, who secured a lap of 1m 45.387s, nearly half a second clear (0.4s) of his closest rivals, Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, in second and third, respectively.

However, the session wasn’t without issue.

Williams’ Carlos Sainz was one of the first to have a major problem on the circuit as he returned to the pits with his brakes on fire. However, the damage did not curtail the Spaniard’s session, whom soon returned to the track.

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli had held the fastest lap in the opening phases of the session, but his practice hour came to a premature end as he stopped out on track at turn seven – prompting the Virtual Safety Car.

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The championship leader had claimed he lost hydraulics in his car and ushered the stewards to come to him, with one soon spraying his smoking car with a fire extinguishers – despite the absence of flames.

Racing Bull’s Arvid Lindblad later stopped at the same pace at Antonelli when the session returned to green flag conditions, but it soon went back to VSC after Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg stopped at an access road as the marshals went to work extracting the stranded car.

At the end of the session, Haas’ Esteban Ocon had trouble at the pit exit as his car struggled to get off from the practice start area with a suspected issue. However, the Frenchman was able to continue on without bringing out the red flag at the end of the session.

FP1 classification: 

1. George Russell, Mercedes 1m 45.387s
2. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing +0.4s
3. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +0.404s
4. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari +0.437s
5. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes +0.878s
6. Oscar Piastri, McLaren +1.011s
7. Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls +1.053
8. Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls +1.214s
9. Esteban Ocon, Haas +1.237s
10. Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi +1.301s
11. Nico Hulkenberg, Audi +1.484s
12. Carlos Sainz, Williams +1.506s
13. Alexander Albon, Williams +1.552s
14. Lando Norris, McLaren +1.594s
15. Oliver Bearman, Haas +1.607
16. Pierre Gasly, Alpine +1.656s
17. Sergio Perez, Cadillac +1.866s
18. Franco Colapinto, Alpine +2.136s
19. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin +2.448s
20. Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing +2.486s
21. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +3.160s
22. Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac +3.928s

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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.