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Max Verstappen snatches first from Lewis Hamilton at the end in a chaotic FP1 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Green light
The light goes green as Haas driver Oliver Bearman enters the track for the first time since the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Briton replaces Kevin Magnussen, who is serving a one race suspension for accumulating too many penalty points.
Mistakes were made during the early part of the session with Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas going straight on a Turn One. Many drivers were struggling with locking up their front tyre.
Red Flag #1
The session was brought to a halt due to debris reported at Turn 12. Verstappen found himself quickest – two tenths ahead of Charles Leclerc. The Dutchman will be hoping for a much better weekend than in Monza last time out.
Verstappen found himself at the top with a 1:47.214. Leclerc was just under three tenths behind the Dutchman, as Hamilton was just over four tenths behind the Red Bull driver.
The red flag only lasted five minutes, with drivers straight back out on track as soon as the light turned green.
Alpine driver Esteban Ocon found trouble after the red flag. The Frenchman reported he had “no power”, limping his A524 back to the pits in third gear.
Ferrari had a mixed first opening 20 minutes as Leclerc beat Verstappen’s time to go to the top as his teammate Carlos Sainz runs wide at Turn Seven.
Red Flag #2
However, despite topping the times and looking quick, Leclerc found the barriers, bringing out another red flag. The Monegasque reported on the radio that he “took the dirt on the outside” causing him to crash into the barriers.
The session resumed with 25 minutes ago with to go as Leclerc was at the top – just 0.030 seconds ahead of Verstappen.
Red Flag #3
Another red flag was brought out as Colapinto finds himself in the wall. The Argentine lost the rear of his FW46 and finds himself in the barrier at Turn Four.
Moment before the incident happened, Hamilton went quickest with both McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri just behind in second and third.
The session resumed with 10 minutes to go. In the final minutes, Verstappen snatched away first from Hamilton, going three tenths quicker than the seven-time world champion.
Results
- Max Verstappen
- Lewis Hamilton
- Sergio Perez
- Lando Norris
- Carlos Sainz
- Oscar Piastri
- Fernando Alonso
- George Russell
- Charles Leclerc
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Oliover Bearman
- Nico Hulkenberg
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Franco Colapinto
- Alex Albon
- Pierre Gasly
- Zhou Guanyu
- Esteban Ocon
Feature Image Credit: Clive Mason via Getty Images