George Russell was fast in first practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix; the Mercedes driver set a 46.387, as he went four tenths faster than Max Verstappen. Russell set his fastest time with twenty minutes remaining, ahead of the Red Bull, with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc four thousandths behind.<\/p>\n
Russell is eighty-one points behind Antonelli in the Drivers’ Championship and must start gaining ground on his teammate soon to avoid an early conclusion to the title race, and he’s started strongly. Mercedes go into this weekend as the favourites at this high-speed street circuit, with the potential for a huge weekend in the outcome of the title.<\/p>\n
Russell and Verstappen were among several drivers to make an error, both taking to the run-off area when they missed their braking points, the Mercedes driver at Turn Three and Verstappen at Turn One.<\/p>\n
But the streets of Baku proved dusty, with lots of drivers making mistakes. Leclerc put himself over four tenths faster than Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton, but neither showed full potential, opting not to set a time on soft tyres.<\/p>\n
This weekend\u2019s race takes place on Saturday because Sunday is Azerbaijan’s Remembrance Day, marking the anniversary of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.<\/p>\n
The two Ferraris were just under four and a half tenths faster than championship leader Kimi Antonelli, the championship leader\u2019s session ending at the halfway point when he stopped with engine issues at Turn Seven as smoke poured from his Mercedes.<\/p>\n
Antonelli was over a tenth faster than Oscar Piastri, who improved late in the session to go sixth, after a messy session for him and his McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who was down in fourteenth after not getting a representative lap in. McLaren are one of the teams to bring a substantial update package.<\/p>\n
At one point, Piastri thought he had damage on the car, but the team told him there was nothing they could see, while Norris is yet to show his true pace.<\/p>\n
They have new sidepods, a new floor edge, and a revised diffuser which is designed to address their low-speed weakness. Piastri was just over four hundredths faster than the Racing Bulls, with Liam Lawson on his return to the team going nearly a quarter of a tenth faster than teammate Arvid Lindblad.<\/p>\n
Red Bull also brought new parts to Baku, including a revised floor, sidepod and mirrors and Verstappen looked very quick on the hard tyres early in the session. Take away Russell’s slipstream on his best lap, and Red Bull appear to be in the fight at the front with Mercedes and Ferrari.<\/p>\n
Esteban Ocon was ninth after announcing he was a free agent for 2027, the Haas driver going six and a half hundredths ahead of the Audi\u2019s. Gabriel Bortoleto secured his place in the top ten, under two tenths faster than teammate Nico Hulkenberg.<\/p>\n
Audi\u2019s own upgrades allowed them to stay ahead of Williams; the latter\u2019s own upgrades left Carlos Sainz just under a quarter of a tenth behind as he went four hundredths faster than Alex Albon. Williams have been waiting months for the new floor and lighter chassis, but brake overheating cost Sainz track time.<\/p>\n
Norris was left nearly half a tenth faster than Ollie Bearman, the Haas going also half a tenth faster than Pierre Gasly. Cadillac\u2019s Sergio Perez split the two Alpin\u00e9s, the Mexican two tenths behind the Frenchman and over a quarter of a second faster than Franco Colapinto, who was two seconds off the outright pace. The Argentine was three tenths faster than Fernando Alonso<\/p>\n
On his return to the car for the first time since Budapest two months ago after missing three races and fresh from a contract extension, Isack Hadjar had to settle for twentieth, four hundredths behind Colapinto. He also lost half of the session because of an engine issue.<\/p>\n
Lance Stroll was three-quarters of a second faster than Valtteri Bottas as they completed the field.<\/p>\n