Bottas quickest, Verstappen crashes in Azerbaijan FP1

Valtteri Bottas led Mercedes to the head of the timesheets as a number of drivers had off-track moments while trying to find their limits in the opening Formula 1 practice session of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend.

Bottas recorded a fastest lap time of 1:44.242 to finish just 0.035 seconds clear of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who impressed with his run to P2 on the Supersoft compound tyre.

Lewis Hamilton finished almost one second back of teammate Bottas, taking third place, but the rival Ferrari team had a more difficult session.

Sebastian Vettel could only finish ninth, completing 16 laps, while teammate Kimi Raikkonen was limited to just 10 laps due to a suspected rear brake issue that kept him in the garage for much of the session.

There was worse news for Max Verstappen in the second Red Bull, with his session coming to an early end after losing the rear of his car on entry to Turn 5 and hitting the barrier. The Dutchman was still able to finish sixth-fastest.

Force India showed signs of continuing its impressive Baku form as Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez finished fourth and fifth respectively, heading up the midfield.

Fernando Alonso took seventh for McLaren ahead of Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin, whose teammate Lance Stroll completed the top 10 behind Vettel.

The session was only interrupted by a Virtual Safety Car following Verstappen’s off, but a number of drivers had brief excursions into the run-off area as they pushed to the limit around the tight confines of the Baku City Circuit.

Second practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix begins at 2pm BST.