Baku, FP1: Hamilton fastest as Ricciardo crashes

Hamilton tops in Azerbaijan for European GP practice

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the first practice session of the new Grand Prix of Europe, as Daniel Ricciardo crashed our at the Baku Street Circuit.

Hamilton posted a best time of 1:46.436 over the 6km circuit, the second longest on the F1 calendar after Spa-Francorchamp, to finish 0.377s ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg, with Valtteri Bottas showing well for Williams in third place.

As ever with street circuits, the weekend’s running began on a dirty, dusty surface offering low grip and Hamilton’s climb to the top of the timesheet wasn’t without cost, as the champion had a brush with the walls at Turn 3.

The Briton, however, got away with the contact, good fortune that eluded Daniel Ricciardo.

The Red Bull Racing driver ran wide at Turn 15 and hit the wall on his right hand side. The contact was heavy, with the right rear wheel of his car being ripped off against the barriers. Ricciardo’s crash led to the Australian finishing in P13, more than three seconds off the pace. It also led to a 15-minute red-flag period while his car was recovered.

The session was made more difficult for Red Bull due to problems with Max Vertsappen’s car. The Ducthman completed just seven laps across the 90s as an oil leake restricted him to the garage.

Nearer the front of the order Bottas ended the session just 0.6s adrift of Hamilton. The Finn scored third place in Canada and on this new street circuit, which features the longest straight in F1, the Williams’ facility in high-speed environments was once again revealed. Bottas was the only non-works Mercedes driver within a second of the defending champion.

Fourth place in the session went to McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, a surprise result given the team’s conservative expectations for this power-sensitive circuit. Alonso finished the session with a time of 1:47.989 to sit 1.5s adrift of Hamilton.

Sebastian Vettel was fifth for Ferrari ahead of Force India’s Sergio Perez, the second McLaren on Jenson Button and Williams Felipe Massa rounded out the top eight. Ninth place went to Carlos Sainz, who also made slight contact with the barriers at Turn 15, with Nico Hulkenberg 10th for Force India.