Practice report
Formula 1 Azerbaijan GP
F1 Azerbaijan GP: Lando Norris leads McLaren 1-2 in FP1 after red flag delays
Norris leads Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc in FP1 as Formula 1 heads to Baku, despite kerb issues eating into track time
Filip Cleeren
Edited: Sep 19, 2025, 10:35 AM
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Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Bryn Lennon - Getty Images
McLaren's Lando Norris topped Friday's curtailed first practice at Formula 1's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Norris topped team-mate Oscar Piastri and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in a two-part session that saw a lengthy interruption for kerb issues.
On the streets of the Azeri capital, championship leader Piastri soon had to halt his run plan due to power unit issues on his McLaren MCL39.
On the other side of the garage, team-mate Norris led the early running with a 1m43.747s on Pirelli's softest tyre compound, the C6, which was quicker than Mercedes' George Russell, Ferrari man Leclerc and Red Bull's world champion Max Verstappen.
The Italian manufacturer is bringing its softest range to Baku in a bid to spice up what is otherwise a straightforward one-stop race, having introduced the extra soft C6 at other races including Monaco and Imola.
The red flag came out after 13 minutes due to a piece of kerb that had come loose on the exit of the final corner, which caused a lengthy stoppage as marshals worked to resolve the issue.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Joe Portlock / LAT Images via Getty Images
The session was only restarted with 21 minutes left on the clock, which inevitably triggered a flurry of activity as teams tried to gather what little data they could. The stoppage worked out well for Piastri, whose power unit issue was resolved so the Australian could rejoin the action in time for the restart.
Verstappen was the first frontrunner to substantially lower his time, moving up to second just 0.043s shy of Norris.
But the Briton's response on brand-new softs was emphatic, taking a full second off his previous best with a 1m.42.704s, while Piastri's first proper flyer netted him third right behind Verstappen's Red Bull.
Leclerc and Russell all improved to jump ahead of Verstappen and Piastri, with Alex Albon also making a top five appearance before the final salvo of runs on a rapidly improving track.
On new boots, Piastri got a lot closer to Norris, but his 1m43.014s was still three tenths away from the lead as Norris remained on top. Leclerc was third, half a second off, staying marginally ahead of Russell and Albon.
Under pressure Yuki Tsunoda made a decent start to his weekend in the second Red Bull in sixth narrowly in front of team-mate Verstappen, but that was mainly due to the Dutchman aborting his final run on new tyres after going deep in Turn 14 and having to bail out into the escape road.
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Carlos Sainz was eighth in the other Williams, with Racing Bulls duo Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar rounding out the top 10.
Other than the lengthy interruption, the session through Baku's narrow streets remained relatively incident free – although Lewis Hamilton escaped session-ending damage to his Ferrari after clattering the inside wall of the Turn 5 left-hander.
There were also dramatic lock-ups for Hadjar and Haas' Esteban Ocon.
F1 Azerbaijan GP - FP1 results
Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info
1
-
4
Main Information Additional Data
1
-
2
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Laps Time Interval Tyres km/h 1 L. Norris McLaren 4
McLaren Mercedes 19
1'42.704
S 210.418 2 O. Piastri McLaren 81
McLaren Mercedes 14
+0.310
1'43.014
0.310 S 209.785 3 C. Leclerc Ferrari 16
Ferrari Ferrari 17
+0.552
1'43.256
0.242 S 209.293 4 G. Russell Mercedes 63
Mercedes Mercedes 16
+0.553
1'43.257
0.001 S 209.291 5 A. Albon Williams 23
Williams Mercedes 17
+0.859
1'43.563
0.306 S 208.672 6 Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing 22
Red Bull Red Bull 16
+1.034
1'43.738
0.175 S 208.320 7 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1
Red Bull Red Bull 15
+1.086
1'43.790
0.052 S 208.216 8 C. Sainz Williams 55
Williams Mercedes 17
+1.155
1'43.859
0.069 S 208.078 9 L. Lawson Racing Bulls 30
RB Honda 17
+1.199
1'43.903
0.044 S 207.990 10 I. Hadjar Racing Bulls 6
RB Honda 17
+1.271
1'43.975
0.072 S 207.846 11
A. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes
12 
Mercedes Mercedes 17
+1.281
1'43.985
0.010 S 207.826 12 N. Hulkenberg Sauber 27
Sauber Ferrari 18
+1.282
1'43.986
0.001 S 207.824 13 L. Hamilton Ferrari 44
Ferrari Ferrari 14
+1.383
1'44.087
0.101 S 207.622 14 G. Bortoleto Sauber 5
Sauber Ferrari 18
+1.383
1'44.087
0.000 S 207.622 15 F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14
Aston Martin Mercedes 15
+1.435
1'44.139
0.052 S 207.518 16 O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87
Haas Ferrari 17
+1.447
1'44.151
0.012 S 207.494 17 L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18
Aston Martin Mercedes 15
+1.625
1'44.329
0.178 S 207.140 18 E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31
Haas Ferrari 15
+1.735
1'44.439
0.110 S 206.922 19 F. Colapinto Alpine 43
Alpine Renault 14
+2.595
1'45.299
0.860 S 205.232 20 P. Gasly Alpine 10
Alpine Renault 17
+2.714
1'45.418
0.119 S 205.001 View full results
Photos from Azerbaijan GP - Practice
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Friday, in photos
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