Leclerc fastest in Azerbaijan practice despite earlier crash

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen pipped Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to the fastest time at the end of a first practice session at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix punctuated by three red flags.

Verstappen replaced Hamilton at the top of the timesheets with his final lap of the session, moving 0.313 seconds clear of the seven-time world champion.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez also set his fastest time on his final lap, moving up to third place, 0.376secs off the pace.

McLaren’s Lando Norris, Verstappen’s closest challenger in the championship, was fourth, 0.481secs behind the Dutchman.

One of the red-flag stoppages was caused by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who had been consistently fastest in the first half of the session until he slid straight on at Turn 15 midway through the session.

The Ferrari’s front suspension was damaged but Leclerc’s car should be repairable in time for the second session, from 14:00 BST.

The first red-flag period was caused by debris on track and the final one a crash for Argentine Franco Colapinto in the Williams.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fifth fastest from the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Mercedes’ George Russell and Leclerc, whose time on medium tyres before his crash was still good enough for ninth fastest time.

All the times ahead of him were set on soft tyres.

Verstappen and Red Bull appeared at this early stage to be in better shape than they were during a difficult weekend at the Italian Grand Prix last time out.

The Dutchman is facing an onslaught from Norris and McLaren in the championship, and is 62 points clear with eight races remaining.

McLaren have decided to ask Piastri to back Norris’ bid to overhaul Verstappen if the circumstances arise.

Norris has been able to close in on Verstappen over the last two races. But after struggling in Monza, Verstappen was quick every time he was out on track in the first session in Baku.

Red Bull have introduced a new floor for this weekend that they hope will begin to address the problems with inconsistent balance, of which Verstappen has been complaining in recent races.