Looking to rebound after the past several weeks of frustration, the end of final practice saw Championship leader Max Verstappen on the top of the time sheets as last weeks winner, Charles LeClerc, crashed his Ferrari on the approach to turn 15, bringing out red flags and ending his session with 30 minutes remaining. Though a disappointing end to the session, LeClerc set the pace early on with the medium compound tires as his early pace showed promise for the remainder of the weekend.
As drivers battled low-grip on the temporary circuit, it was some time before the quickest laps of the afternoon were set as Verstappen – running the soft compounds – set the quickest lap from Lewis Hamilton at the end of the session. His lap of 1:45.546s was over three tenths clear of his 2021 title rival as Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez clocked in his own quick time, good enough for third on the time sheets.
HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action from FP1 as Leclerc and Colapinto crash while Verstappen sets the pace in Baku
Further down the order, Oliver Bearman – making his debut for Haas in replacement of the currently banned Kevin Magnussen – stayed out of trouble and set the eleventh quickest time ahead of teammate Hulkenberg, an impressive showing for the young Briton as he looks forward to taking over in 2025 for the outgoing Magnussen. Meanwhile, it was a rough session for rookie Franco Colapinto. After a wonderful start to his career in Monza, FP1 saw impressive speed and pace until a slight error in turn 4 caught the young driver out as his Williams slid into the barriers, bringing out red flags for the third and final time in the session. Despite the error, Colapinto’s quickest lap was still solid enough for 16th overall, just ahead of teammate Albon.
With that, drivers and teams will regroup and recover before this evening’s FP2 session. Catch all the action live at 17:00 local time.
FORMULA 1 QATAR AIRWAYS AZERBAIJAN 2024 Schedule
| Date | Session | Time (Local Circuit) |
| Sept. 13th | Practice 1 | 13:30 – 14:30 |
| Practice 2 | 17:00 – 18:00 | |
| Sept. 14th | Practice 3 | 12:30 – 1:30 |
| Qualifying | 16:00 – 17:00 | |
| Sept. 15th | Race | 15:00 |
Free Practice 1 Results:
Pos | No | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:45.546 | 21 | |
2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:45.859 | +0.313s | 19 |
3 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:45.922 | +0.376s | 17 |
4 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 1:46.027 | +0.481s | 18 |
5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:46.173 | +0.627s | 21 |
6 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | 1:46.282 | +0.736s | 18 |
7 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:46.452 | +0.906s | 19 |
8 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:46.516 | +0.970s | 18 |
9 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:46.608 | +1.062s | 11 |
10 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB Honda RBPT | 1:46.687 | +1.141s | 23 |
11 | 50 | Oliver Bearman | Haas Ferrari | 1:46.973 | +1.427s | 23 |
12 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | 1:47.135 | +1.589s | 20 |
13 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:47.184 | +1.638s | 15 |
14 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:47.640 | +2.094s | 18 |
15 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT | 1:47.708 | +2.162s | 21 |
16 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Williams Mercedes | 1:47.901 | +2.355s | 12 |
17 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 1:47.955 | +2.409s | 17 |
18 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | 1:48.712 | +3.166s | 21 |
19 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 1:49.052 | +3.506s | 19 |
20 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 3 |
