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In the first practice session at the Baku circuit on Friday, Max Verstappen topped the timesheets ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel in a session that saw the drivers perfecting their set ups and seeing where they need to improve before FP2, FP3 and Qualifying on Saturday.
During FP1, there were several drivers that went off the circuit which included Romain Grosjean, Sebastian Vettel and Jolyon Palmer who all ran off track after locking up on what was a very green track, while Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas had a spin at the uphill Turn 12 on the way out of the tight castle section.
The session was red-flagged with just under 20 minutes to go, when Sergio Perez crashed heavily at the narrow Turn 8. Perez took too much kerb on entry, pitching the car into the wall on the exit and causing significant damage to the front-right corner.
It took the track marshals took just over 10 minutes to clear the car and debris, allowing the session to get restarted with just under six minutes to go.
But it was Max Verstappen who was fastest with a lap time of 1:44.410 ahead of his team mate Daniel Ricciardo in second place who was 0.470 seconds behind him and ahead of Valtteri Bottas in third place who was 0.557 seconds behind Verstappen.
Sergio Perez finished the session in fourth place ahead of Lewis Hamilton in fifth place, Valtteri Bottas in sixth place, Esteban Ocon in seventh place, Felipe Massa in eighth place, Kimi Raikkonen in ninth place and Daniil Kvyat who rounded off the top ten finishers.
Lance Stroll ended the session in eleventh place ahead of Kevin Magnussen in twelfth place, Romain Grosjean in thirteenth place, Nico Hulkenberg in fourteenth place and Stoffel Vandoorne in fifteenth place.
As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Carlos Sainz Jr ended the session in sixteenth place ahead of Fernando Alonso in seventeenth place, Jolyon Palmer in eighteenth place, Pascal Wehrlein in nineteenth place and Marcus Ericsson in twentieth place.
The classification of FP1 for the Baku GP is as follows:-
1. Max Verstappen, Red-Bull-TAG Heuer, 1.44.410
2. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-TAG Heuer, 0.470s
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 0.557s
4. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 0.988s
5. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1.087s
6. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 1.327s
7. Esteban Ocon, Force India-Mercedes, 1.342s
8. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 1.558s
9. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1.590s
10. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 2.207s
11. Lance Stroll, Williams-Mercedes, 2.239s
12. Kevin Magnussen, Haas Ferrari, 2.311s
13. Romain Grosjean, Haas Ferrari, 2.427s
14. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, 2.807s
15. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren-Honda, 3.036s
16. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 3.141s
17. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 3.141s
18. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 4.115s
19. Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber-Ferrari, 4.638s
20. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 5.527s
Driving for Pleasure will be covering the Baku GP weekend with our practice, qualifying and race reports alongside the latest news.
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa
