Max Verstappen set the pace in the lone FP1 session in F1 Azerbaijan GP from Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez in the Top 3.

With the sole practice running in the F1 Sprint weekend in Azerbaijan GP, it wasn’t the cleanest of running with loads of yellow flag moments with drivers running wide at certain corners, especially in the first sector of the Baku street circuit.

There was a red flag for double moment at the same time as Alpine’s Pierre Gasly stopped on circuit due to hydraulic leak as fire blew from the rear of its car. At the same time, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen stopped at Turn 1 due to fuel pressure issue.

The red flag period also ended Alpine’s Esteban Ocon’s run too after the team elected to stop for a precautionary check on the rear of its car. Before the red flag, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda had a spin which resulted in a puncture after touching the wall.

He made it back in the pits to change over but he lost a set of the soft compound. There was a wall clip early on for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, but he escaped without any major damage to continue on in the session importantly.

Among the drivers who brought out the yellow flags were McLaren’s Lando Norris, Magnussen, Williams’ Logan Sargeant, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. There was also lose fitting of nose section for Sargeant which ran very low.

The lead changed hands multiple times at the front but it was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on top with a 1m42.315s lap as the Red Bull pair were separated by Leclerc (1m42.352s) with Sergio Perez (1m42.454s) rounding the Top 3.

Sainz was fourth from Norris, with the latter having updates on his car and the only Mercedes-powered driver without a new ICE for the Azerbaijan GP weekend. AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries was sixth from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

His teammate Fernando Alonso was eighth but had DRS issues in the session, as Williams’ Alexander Albon was ninth and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu was 10th. Everyone apart from Alonso set their best time on the soft tyre, with the Spaniard doing it on the medium.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was 11th after having brake issues with Piastri in 12th, who also had a wall brush towards the end of the session at Turn 15. Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was 13th from Tsunoda, with Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg in 15th.

Sargeant was 16th from Mercedes’ George Russell, Ocon, Gasly and Magnussen. Both the Mercedes and Alpine pairs could only set their best time on the medium compound, while Magnussen had his best time on the hard tyre.

Here’s the new PU elements: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2023%20Azerbaijan%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20New%20PU%20elements%20for%20this%20Competition.pdf

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