F1 Live: 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix first practice

This session has finished. No further updates will be posted.

First practice for the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix is coming up next

There are no changes of driver for practice alone today but of course there is one change on the entry list. Kevin Magnussen is serving his one-race ban and Oliver Bearman is taking his place in the Haas this weekend, driving car number 50. This will be the first time Bearman has participated in a full grand prix weekend, as when he substituted for Carlos Sainz junior in Jeddah he was drafted in after Friday’s running and only had a single hour of practice before qualifying.

Piastri: “Track feels very, very low grip.”
Stallard: “Copy. That was expected.”

Norris complaining his steering doesn’t feel symmetrical. That’s not the first time this year he’d said something like that, he did in Miami as well when McLaren introduced the upgrade which propelled them to competitiveness.

Charles Leclerc sets the early pace on a set of mediums with a 1’49.740. Pirelli’s data is showing Max Verstappen on a set of softs but he is actually on mediums.

Verstappen pops up to second on mediums, three-tenths off Leclerc, who improved his time.

Lewis Hamilton pops in the fastest time now, 1’47.618, seven-tenths quicker than Leclerc as the track improves quickly. “The track’s just nowhere,” Russell observes. A brief yellow flag for Valtteri Bottas going off at turn one and rejoining.

Just as at the last race, Hamilton is complaining his seat is hot.

Piastri: “Bottoming level is high through the high speed. It’s not exactly straightforward.”

Stroll is not happy: “This is not a car. This is not a car right now.”

Red flag. No indication why yet. Wood tells Perez: “Try to avoid any manhole covers, just in case.”

Russell: “I’ve got something in my left elbow aggravating me, if we could just take a look.”

Dudley to Russell: “Expect this to be a very quick turnaround, George. Debris on track.”

The session resumes with just over 40 minutes remaining. Verstappen is quickest at the moment with a 1’47.214.

Ocon: “I got a problem. I have no power.”

Sainz reverses back onto the track after going off at turn seven. His team mate is complaining about a severe bump on the track between turns 18 and 19.

Leclerc has crashed! Red flag 27 minutes into the session. He’s climbing out of his Ferrari which is nose-first in the TecPro barrier at turn 15.

As has become standard practice for FOM, they do no play any of Leclerc’s radio live after his crash. Later an excerpt is played on the world feed: “I took the dirt on the outside.”

The session has restarted for the second time, with 25 minutes now left on the clock and pace-setter Leclerc taking no further part in proceedings. Alpine confirm Ocon is also done for the session as they look into his suspected power unit problem.

The McLaren drivers use softs to claim the top times. Lando Norris produces a 1’46.027 while Oscar Piastri is 0.255s off in second place. Sergio Perez is their closest rival, over half a second behind.

Franco Colapinto has put his Williams in the wall at turn four. The Medical Car has been summoned but he’s climbing out. That’s the third red flag of the day.

Meanwhile in the Mercedes garage Hamilton says: “We’ve definitely got some improvements to make.” That’s despite just having set the fastest time with a 1’45.859.

The session has restarted for the third time, now with 11 minutes remaining.
Best times so far by team:
Mercedes: 1’45.859
McLaren: 1’46.027 (+0.168s)
Red Bull: 1’46.586 (+0.727s)
Ferrari: 1’46.608 (+0.749s)
RB: 1’46.687 (+0.828s)
Haas: 1’46.973 (+1.114s)
Williams: 1’47.901 (+2.042s)
Aston Martin: 1’47.928 (+2.069s)
Sauber: 1’49.052 (+3.193s)
Alpine: 1’49.477 (+3.618s)

Verstappen is one a quick one now, lighting up the first sector on a set of softs. He was 0.779s off the top time on his set of mediums.

The Red Bull driver is quickest of all through the first two sectors, but loses a touch at the end of the lap and ends up 0.036s off Hamilton’s fastest time.

Yuki Tsunoda: “My car is bouncing like hell.” He’s 15th, 1.849s off the pace.

The chequered flag falls and Verstappen is on another quick lap – he could be about to snatch the top time away from Hamilton.

It’s a huge effort by Verstappen, seven-tenths up after two sectors, he loses four tenths in the sprint to the flag but he’s still quickest of all by 0.313 seconds.

Stroll suggested there was “something broken in the car” at the end of the session. He was also unhappy with the feedback race engineer Andrew Vizard gave him at one stage:
Vizard: “So Lance just looking across cars it’s really sector one so it’s…”
Stroll: “Yeah, braking turn one, too late, but it’s early turn two, all the things…”
Vizard: “Yeah exits one and two, braking turn three a little bit as well. But you are the same…”
Stroll: “Useless feedback.”

Hamilton remarks on Alonso getting in his way at the start of a lap.
Bonnington: “Yeah Alonso was fast, double-cool, fast, then kept pushing sector one by the look of it.”
Hamilton: “Yeah.”
Bonnington: “Yep.”
Wolff: “No surprise.”
Hamilton: “Yep.”

That brings an end to our coverage of first practice. Read our full report here