F1 Azerbaijan GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1
Friday's opening action from the 17th round of the 2024 Formula 1 season
F1 returns to Azerbaijan in a later-than-usual slot in the schedule for round 17 of the season as McLaren and Lando Norris aim to further decrease the gap to Red Bull in both drivers' and constructors' standings.
Ferrari won in Italy thanks to Charles Leclerc and remains in the hunt for the constructors' championship, but who will reign supreme in Baku?
The first clue will be given in first practice, which starts at 10:30 BST.
By: Ewan Gale
That's all from us for FP1. Thank you for joining this morning, the team will be back to take you through FP2 later on today!
A chaotic session to start the Azerbaijan GP weekend then as Verstappen takes top spot. Read the full report here!
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
For those in trouble, Leclerc's damage should be easily fixed.
Ocon may find his power unit problem solved before FP2, but Colapinto's fortunes will be determined on the status of his own PU and gearbox, given the energy inflicted horizontally through the rear of the car.
What was also apparent was that the track evolution was counteracting the effect of tyre degradation.
Teams may get a better read of tyre deg in FP2 and FP3 when the surface is less 'green'.
A heavily disrupted session and a lack of representative running, with drivers setting best efforts at different times, means FP2 could be important for further figuring out the pecking order.
Piastri was on mediums at the end while the best times were being set, while Leclerc wasn't involved in the low-fuel running.
Sainz is a lucky, lucky man. He brushes up against the wall on the exit of T7, enough to create dust from the concrete.
That could have been double trouble for the Ferrari mechanics.
Bearman did outpace Hulkenberg, which is a fine effort in only his second F1 race weekend.
Leclerc, Ocon and Colapinto are the big losers from the opening hour.
Verstappen does go fastest with a 1m45.546s, but Hamilton was four-tenths faster in the final sector.
That screams of a slipstream for the Mercedes driver.
Perez jumps to third, 0.063s off Hamilton's time.
But Verstappen is seven-tenths up after two sectors.
Not the best end to the lap as Sainz fails to improve. Both Red Bulls are improving on this lap, however, as the chequered flag falls.
Norris managed to find improvement to take third from Sainz, though the Spaniard has just set a purple first sector...
Here we are for the final part: exit of Turn 2. It's amazing how scuff-free the Pirelli board is on the other side - you can see how close to the wall Sainz is here. It's quite a long straight from T3 to here, totally worth the calf workout...
Tsunoda team radio: "My car is bouncing like hell."
Remember, this is the race that prompted the porpoising outcry in 2022.
Perez goes fifth with his latest attempt, less than half a second down on Hamilton, with Alonso up to seventh.
Piastri is out on medium tyres so he won't improve on sixth, as Russell goes into the T1 runoff.
Wow! Verstappen was way up on Hamilton after two sectors but the Mercedes stays on top by less than a tenth of a second.
Hamilton's final sector was mighty, but on his latest lap he goes straight on at T1 and spins his car around to continue.
Russell comes across the line and goes fifth, with Sainz up to third.
Albon briefly brought yellow flags out at T4 but recovered in time to not hamper Verstappen's effort. The Dutchman is purple in S1 and S2...
We have an idea of where the drivers are performance-wise in these track conditions, but what can Russell, Sainz and Verstappen offer?
Again, speedy work from the marshals allows the session to resume with 11 minutes to go!
We said Colapinto was being brave, but perhaps to his detriment. He's fine, but procedure means the medical car has to do a lap. And the Aston is going for it, and arcs the corner nicely with a little bit of tyre squeal. We're going to slowly amble to Turn 2.
This is a good time to take a look at Red Bull's floor upgrade for the weekend...
Hamilton had ducked into the 1m45s just moments before to take the top spot.
Verstappen is yet to set a soft-tyre run, as are Sainz and Russell.
A nightmare for Colapinto, who was called up in place of Sargeant after the American's costly incidents.
The Argentinian was up on Albon at the time of his crash. Hero to zero.
Colapinto has found the wall. He missed the apex at T4, slid wide into the wall and has caused a lot of damage to the Williams.
That impact could have damaged the gearbox as well.
Another red flag, just after Hamilton completes a lap this time...
Ricciardo jumped to sixth on his lap, with Bearman faster than Hulkenberg - the Haas duo seventh and eighth.
The times haven't tumbled maybe as much as we could have expected.
Here come the soft laps - Perez goes fastest, beaten straight away by Piastri and then Norris.
That's a 1m46.027 for the Briton.
Another red flag, so we took another chance to reposition at Turn 3. It's a pretty cookie-cutter 90-left at the end of a long straight, but we've come for some overtakes. Here's a picture of Lance Stroll - we can comfortably assert that this is, indeed, a car.
Unsurprisingly, the red-walled soft tyres are now fitted to the cars for some low-fuel runs.
Confirmation from Alpine that Ocon has a power unit issue and will not take further part in the session.