George Russell set the pace in the opening practice session ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, putting his Mercedes four tenths clear at the top of the timesheets. The one-hour session got underway at 1230 local time, greeting the field with a dusty and slippery track surface across the streets of Baku.
Russell laid down a 1m 45.387s to lead the way, finishing ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen in second and Charles Leclerc taking third for Ferrari. Verstappen had earlier become the first driver to dip below the 1m 46s barrier with a 1m 45.787s on soft tyres, before Russell bested him with the aid of a tow down the main straight.
It was a chaotic session filled with technical gremlins and early dramas. Carlos Sainz brought his heavily updated Williams back to the pit lane after just 15 minutes with its rear brakes on fire, while Isack Hadjar—making his return from a wrist injury—reported his Red Bull brakes pulling to one side, later restricting his running further with a power unit issue that left him P20. Oscar Piastri also lost track time as McLaren worked to repair issues on his car, leaving Lando Norris down in P14 after missing most of the session with an issue of his own.
Kimi Antonelli had briefly gone fastest on a 1m 46.265s approaching the 25-minute mark using hard Pirelli tyres for Mercedes. Unfortunately, when the Italian bolted on soft tyres, his session was cut short on his out-lap when he pulled off at Turn 7 reporting a hydraulic issue, triggering a Virtual Safety Car as his car was retrieved. Despite missing the entire second half of the session, Antonelli still wound up fifth fastest.
Both Verstappen and Russell suffered minor excursions into run-off areas at Turn 1 and Turn 3 respectively before rejoining without damage. A second Virtual Safety Car was deployed in the final five minutes when Arvid Lindblad needed to reverse from the Turn 7 run-off area, while Nico Hulkenberg's Audi simultaneously ground to a halt on the exit of Turn 4 before being recovered behind the barrier.
When the chequered flag fell, Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton slotted in behind Verstappen, with both Ferrari drivers setting their times on medium tyres. Piastri claimed sixth ahead of the Racing Bulls pairing of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, with Esteban Ocon of Haas and Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto rounding out the top 10.
Hulkenberg finished P11 for Audi, followed by the Williams duo of Sainz and Alex Albon. Behind Norris in 14th came Ollie Bearman for Haas in 15th, Pierre Gasly's Alpine, Sergio Perez in the Cadillac, Franco Colapinto for Alpine, and Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, with Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas bringing up the rear.
