Free Practice 1 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix proved a stop-start affair, with kerb repairs, minor incidents, and tyre experimentation dominating proceedings. In the end, it was Lando Norris who set the pace for McLaren. His 1:42.704 min lap put him comfortably clear of the field on the softest compound.
Russell Returns, Tyres Under Scrutiny
The session began with intrigue even before the first laps were turned. George Russell, who had missed Thursday’s media commitments with illness, returned to action for Mercedes. Drivers also faced an unfamiliar challenge as Pirelli’s C6 compound made its first appearance since June. Alongside the C5 (medium) and C4 (hard), this tyre gave teams valuable but limited running to assess the ultra-soft rubber on upgraded machinery.
Early Drama on Track
The early stages were messy. Franco Colapinto led the way for Alpine, with Nico Hülkenberg close behind on a dusty, slippery street circuit. Norris briefly lost time after McLaren mistakenly left a protective cover on his car’s nose, while Gabriel Bortoleto skated into a run-off. Mechanical gremlins then struck Oscar Piastri, who parked up after his out-lap, climbing out of his McLaren as mechanics investigated a suspected power unit issue.
Elsewhere, Russell reported the smell of burning, Alex Albon shed a mirror, and the first red flag appeared just 15 minutes in. What was initially thought to be debris turned out later to be damage to a kerb. The Racing Bulls team boss, Alan Permane, confirmed a section of kerb had come loose, forcing lengthy trackside repairs and a 26-minute stoppage that cut valuable running time.
McLaren on the Front Foot
When the session finally resumed, McLaren had Piastri back on track and firing. Both he and Norris took to fresh soft tyres, with Norris immediately lighting up the timing screens. His benchmark lap, more than a second clear of Max Verstappen at the time, remained unchallenged. Piastri slotted into second late on, just 0.310s adrift of his teammate, marking a strong showing for the papaya team.
Mixed Fortunes for Rivals
Charles Leclerc, chasing a fifth consecutive pole in Baku, ended third, half a second off Norris, while Russell completed a solid return in fourth. Verstappen, hindered by traffic and a trip through the run-off, finished down in seventh, reporting braking instability on his Red Bull.
The session was not without drama for Lewis Hamilton either. The Ferrari driver clipped the wall in the last minutes. He then had to limp back to the pits with a puncture and front wing damage. Meanwhile, traffic became a recurring theme on the narrow street circuit, with differing run plans leaving drivers frequently stuck.
Plenty of Pace Still to Come
As the chequered flag fell, Norris’s time was still 1.4 seconds shy of last year’s pole. This leaves plenty of performance to be found in future sessions as the track evolves. Yet with McLaren locking out the top two and looking at ease on the tricky C6 tyres, the early signs suggest the British team may have brought serious pace to Baku.
Franco Colapinto, meanwhile, ended the session under investigation for a red flag infringement, adding a final note of controversy to a heavily disrupted start to the weekend.