Russell fastest in first practice as Antonelli’s Mercedes breaks down

Mercedes driver George Russell led Max Verstappen in first free practice at Formula 1’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Kimi Antonelli hit trouble.

Russell’s 1m45.387s lap, set with 20 minutes to go in the one-hour session, was comfortably enough to hold off the competition as his Mercedes team-mate disappeared from the session early, with Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc rounding out the top three instead.

With the race held on Saturday to accommodate a national holiday, Thursday’s first practice at the Baku city circuit got off to a leisurely start with drivers taking a cautious approach. The slippery street layout is only used once a year and therefore proved dusty at the start of the race weekend.

Verstappen put down a first marker with a 1m46.635s on hard tyre, followed by a 1m46.512s lap, despite reporting that the brakes on his RB22 were pulling. Team-mate Isack Hadjar suffered power unit problems on his return to the Red Bull cockpit after being sidelined for three weekends with a wrist fracture.

After 15 minutes, championship leader Antonelli hit the top of the timesheets courtesy of a 1m46.265s lap, but the Italian then hit trouble before the halfway point. Antonelli ground to a halt in Turn 7 with a smoking Mercedes W17, which suffered suspected hydraulic failure, causing a virtual safety car.

The 20-year-old’s car was swiftly cleared by the marshals without requiring a red flag. That allowed the remaining drivers to fit the soft tyres for the second half of the sessions. After locking the fronts in Turn 1 and having to dive into the escape road, Verstappen’s second attempt yielded the Dutchman top spot with a 1m45.787s lap, four tenths quicker than what Russell could muster, the Briton himself narrowly avoiding the wall in Turn 3.

Russell’s next effort was much better, taking four tenths out of the four-time world champion’s time to set a 1m45.387s benchmark. Leclerc came within 0.004s of Verstappen to take third away from Ferrari stablemate Lewis Hamilton as Antonelli took fifth.

Late efforts to move up the leaderboard were thwarted by Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad getting out of shape at Turn 7 and then Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg suffering an issue in Turn 4, causing a second virtual safety car in the final minutes.

But Oscar Piastri did find a late improvement to go sixth after what had been a messy session for both he and team-mate Lando Norris, which was stuck in 14th without a representative soft-tyre lap, as both cars had to be checked for damage. In a bid to help address the team’s low-speed weakness, McLaren trialled new sidepods, a new floor edge, and a revised diffuser in FP1, one of several teams to bring a substantial update package.

On his return to his familiar Racing Bulls cockpit, Liam Lawson took seventh ahead of Lindblad, with Haas driver Esteban Ocon and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto rounding out the top 10.

The upgraded Audis kept Williams duo Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon out of the top 10, as Williams also debuted its long-awaited upgrade package. The update includes a redesigned floor and a lighter chassis, though the team suffered with brake overheating in FP1 which cost Sainz track time.

F1 Azerbaijan GP – FP1 results

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– The Autosport.com Team