The F1 circus returned to Azerbaijan for the second time in its 67 seasons for the start of the eighth round of the 2017 Season. In the first practice session of the weekend for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, drivers took to the track to get acclimatized to the circuit and set up their cars for Sunday’s race while teams began to gather data for the weekend.
Max Verstappen sets the pace in FP1 ahead of Azerbaijan Grand Prix
From the outset of the session, teams were testing new parts on their cars. Red Bull Racing were one such team, applying flow-viz paint on the front wing allowing engineers to see detailed airflow patterns across the car due to the paint being directed by the rushing air over the area over the course of a flying lap. Force India also joined Red Bull in testing new parts, fitting an aero rake on the rear of their cars to map the airflow passing over the sidepod to the rear wing and diffuser. Mercedes also conducted testing by applying heat sensitive stickers to the rear end to discover exhaust temperatures and whether this will overheat the bodywork around the rear end.
As drivers were trying to find the limits in Baku in FP1, there were a number of mistakes in the first session of the weekend, with Valtteri Bottas, Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel, Jolyon Palmer, Romain Grosjean, and Max Verstappen all having offs. Sergio Perez made the biggest mistake in the session however, and became the first casualty of the weekend, crashing his Force India in the castle section of the track, leading to the session being red flagged with 15 minutes to go.
Sergio perez crash fp1 baku #F1Baku pic.twitter.com/vIVwCWecjg
— Matthew fisher (@robot_rocks11) June 23, 2017
When the checkered flag waved at the end of the session, Max Verstappen emerged as the early pace setter, setting a 1:44.410, 0.470 seconds faster than Daniel Ricciardo who headed up a Red Bull 1-2 in FP1. Sebastian Vettel followed Ricciardo as third fastest for Ferrari while Sergio Perez was impressively fourth fastest for Force India, leading the two Mercedes drivers who ended the session in fifth and sixth.
Results from Practice 1 of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix:
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1:44.410
- Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 1:44.880
- Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:44.967
- Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:45.398
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:45.497
- Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 1:45.737
- Esteban Ocon, Force India, 1:45.752
- Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:45.968
- Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:46.000
- Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:46.617
- Lance Stroll, Williams, 1:46.649
- Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1, 1:46.721
- Romain Grosjean, Haas F1, 1:46.837
- Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, 1:47.217
- Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, 1:47.446
- Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1:47.501
- Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:47.551
- Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:48.525
- Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber, 1:49.048
- Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:49.937
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