F1 is back after a break of two weeks – here are the results from the first Practice session for the Azerbaijan GP
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez continued his rich vein of form as he topped FP1 for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finishing in second place. Perez used soft tires to go quickest – 0.127s ahead of Leclerc, with championship leader Max Verstappen in third place.
Perez is coming into the Azerbaijan GP high on confidence having won in Monaco. He also finished on top in Baku in the previous edition of the Azerbaijan GP in 2021.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who like the rest of the top 10, set his best time using soft tires, was fourth with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso shooting up to P5 very late in the session.
Lewis Hamilton finished in 6th place while Yuki Tsunoda was an impressive seventh. In the leading AlphaTauri, a fraction ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly.
Meanwhile, down the grid, Nicholas Latifi’s weekend got off to a frustrating start as he lost precious track time when his car “just died” with just seven laps on the board. There was a pain for Mick Schumacher too, the German was forced to park his Haas on track with a suspected water pressure issue before he had the chance to set a competitive lap time.
Where do things stand ahead of the Azerbaijan GP?
Ferrari has been dismantled from the top of both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships. Max Verstappen leads the drivers’ championship with 125 points while Charles Leclerc is placed second with 116 points. Sergio Perez has significantly closed the gap at the top after a maiden race win this season in Monaco. The Mexican is placed third with 110 points.
In the constructors’ championship, Red Bull lead the table with 235 points. Ferrari are behind in second place with 199 points. There is a fair amount of gap between the top 2 teams and the rest of the grid with Mercedes occupying third place having earned 134 points.
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