#AzerbaijanGP FP1: @Max33Verstappen pips @CharlesLeclerc to top time-sheets. #F1 #BakuGP

Verstappen Azerbaijan GP FP1 – Reigning world champion Max Verstappen pipped Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.037 seconds to go quickest in the sole FP1 session at the Azerbaijan GP before qualifying today to decide the grid for Sunday’s race in the first ever Sprint weekend for the 2023 season. The standalone Sprint qualifying and race are tomorrow.

 

 

Verstappen’s time-topping effort came right at the end with a 1:42.315 on the C5 red side-walled softer compounds, beating Leclerc narrowly by 0.037 seconds and Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez who was a further 0.182 adrift in third.

 

The session began with a big line of cars at the end of the pit-lane, and Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries was the first to register a benchmark with a 1:49.541.

 

De Vries and his AlphaTauri team-mate Yuki Tsunoda were the only drivers running the softs, with the majority on the mediums and a handful on the harder compounds.

 

The times began to tumble rapidly as the drivers got up to speed – Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, Aston Martin duo Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and de Vries again having momentarily spells at the top of the pile, but it was the Red Bull pairing that regularly jumped ahead as they clocked around on the mediums.

 

Verstappen had lowered the benchmark to a 1:43.834 before the session was stopped at the end of the opening 15 minutes due to a red flag.

 

This was caused by Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen parking his VF-23 racer in the turn one run-off area because of a loss of fuel pressure just after he had to turn out of a moment close to the wall on the inside of the 90-degree right hander and lost all his speed as the Dane then went near the exit barrier on the other side of the track.

 

As he was stationery, the session was stopped, but the delay was made longer by Alpine F1 Team’s Pierre Gasly who’s A523 racer caught fire when he had gone slowly through the turn one run-off area well ahead of Magnussen, but then needing to stop inside turn 12 at the circuit’s castle section as the flames did not go out as he travelled slow back to the pits.

 

The fire, initially triggered from a hydraulic leak, erupted for several minutes before it was eventually extinguished, which meant the teams and drivers lost almost a quarter of valuable track time as the session resumed with 32 minutes left on the clock.

 

The field re-emerged minus Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and the runners that hit trouble, including Tsunoda, who badly damaged the rear of his AT04 racer after suffering a puncture to his rear-right, which caused him to spin at turn three.

 

All the remaining drivers continued to pound around the Baku City Circuit on the medium and harder tyres over the middle stage of proceedings, with several pilots setting personal best efforts, but not threatening Verstappen’s benchmark.

 

The Red Bull duo used this time to complete high-fuel runs ahead of the upcoming races, before coming in ahead of the final 15 minutes along with most others, just as Stroll split the leading pairing with a hot-lap on the mediums and Alonso reported a DRS issue to his team who called the Spaniard to box.

 

The final part of proceedings became a small session on the softs as most of the drivers got on the crucial tyre for qualifying later on Friday, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri leading his rival competitors and moved up to seventh from 19th on the red-marked tyre.

 

Verstappen was the first of the front-runners to post a flying lap on the softs, posting a 1:43.042, which put the Dutchman back in P1 a few seconds after Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon jumped ahead with a 1:43.628.

 

But running a bit further back, Perez moved in-front of Red Bull team-mate Verstappen in both sectors one and two and although he could not beat the Dutchman in the final sector, the Mexican nonetheless moved to the top of the classifications with a 1:42.651.

 

Perez’s second hot-lap came after two slow preparation tours and he set a 1:42.600 to go further ahead, until Leclerc’s second qualifying simulation stint, who’s effort ended with the driver whom has taken the last two pole positions in Baku going in-front on a 1:42.352.

 

The action was not over after the chequered flag was waving as Verstappen had enough time for a third and final flyer on the softs.

 

Although the Red Bull driver ran off the pace of Leclerc in sectors one and two, the RB19’s straight-line speed advantage meant Verstappen was able to jump ahead in what would remain the session’s best effort, a 1:42.315.

 

Behind, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who had gotten away with tapping the inside wall at turn five during the opening proceedings, completed his personal best on the softs and took fourth, which was followed by Perez unable to go quicker on his final attempt.

 

Then followed McLaren’s Lando Norris in fifth, another driver who climbed up the order later on and afterwards came de Vries and Stroll in sixth and seventh respectively.

 

Alonso ended up eighth for Aston Martin, but without completing a soft tyre run as the Silverstone-based squad opted to split it’s strategy.

 

The aforementioned Albon ended FP1 in ninth place for Williams as Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu completed the top ten.

 

Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton did not complete a soft tyre run, but the seven-time world champion placed outside the top 10 in 11th place and ahead of McLaren’s Piastri who finished FP1 in 12th, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas who came 13th in the classification and AlphaTauri’s Tsunoda who ended opening practice in 14th.

 

Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg took 15th in the classification and in-front of Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant who was 16th and Mercedes George Russell who took 17th amid brake issues with his F1 W14.

 

The Alpine F1 Team pairing of Esteban Ocon and the aforementioned Gasly ended the session in 18th and 19th respectively as Magnussen brought up the rear for Haas.

 

You can see the full Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2023 Free Practice 1 Results Classification at the link: https://www.skysports.com/f1/grandprix/azerbaijan/results

 

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