Marco Rossi · F1-Korrespondent
George Russell secured the fastest time in the first free practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, while championship leader Antonelli battled a rear-end failure in his Mercedes.
George Russell topped the opening free practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Thursday in Baku with the quickest lap time of 1:45.387, finishing four tenths ahead of Max Verstappen in the Red Bull. His teammate and championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli was forced to end his session early due to a hydraulic failure.
Mercedes leading the way, Ferrari with questions to answer
Russell's best time was convincing, but the real story of the session lay in the tightly bunched field behind him. Verstappen (+0.400), Leclerc (+0.404) and Hamilton (+0.437) were separated by mere hundredths at the close, suggesting the grid at the sharp end of the field has tightened up more than at some other tracks on the calendar this season.
At Ferrari, though, any reading of the session times calls for caution. Following Leclerc's shunt at Monza the previous race weekend, the Scuderia had given assurances about the powertrain itself. According to reports from the paddock, however, Ferrari is running the affected engine primarily during the free practice sessions in Baku to avoid the risk of grid penalties in the race. How much weight third and fourth place actually carry as pointers to true race pace remains unclear from the raw times alone.
Double disruption courtesy of Antonelli and Hülkenberg
Around 15 to 20 minutes into the session, Antonelli came to a halt at turn seven with smoke pouring from the rear, reports from the paddock indicate. A hydraulic failure ended his running prematurely, and the track had to be neutralized under Virtual Safety Car conditions while the car was recovered. That Antonelli still finished fifth despite the early exit, within a second of Russell, speaks to the underlying potential of the Mercedes this weekend.
Shortly before the end of the session, Hülkenberg triggered the second interruption when the Audi driver was forced to park his car on track, the same reports suggest. Two Virtual Safety Car periods within a single practice session is unusual and will likely have disrupted the planned test programs for teams relying on uninterrupted long-run data.
McLaren battling floor issues, Norris way down the order
While Oscar Piastri salvaged a respectable sixth place for McLaren, Lando Norris trailed far behind. The Brit finished 1.594 seconds adrift in fourteenth, a result that represents an unusual step down for McLaren standards. Both McLaren drivers were working through floor-related problems during the session, paddock reports indicate, which likely explains at least part of the gap between the two cars.
Red Bull had reason for concern as well, though for different reasons. Returnee Isack Hadjar missed nearly the entire session with powertrain issues, the reports suggest, ending up a distant twentieth. For a team fighting for the title, losing so much of the opening practice day is not something to brush off lightly.
With the compressed schedule for this weekend, moved up a day according to organizers due to a national observance in Azerbaijan, there is little room to catch up on lost ground. Friday brings the second and third practice sessions followed by qualifying, before Saturday decides the starting grid for the race. How solid Ferrari's form actually is, and how serious McLaren's problems prove to be, will become clearer in the sessions ahead.
