Red Bull one-two as Perez red flags Baku FP1

Max Verstappen topped the times ahead of Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo in FP1 for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in a session red flagged due to a crash for Sergio Perez.

Despite Red Bull not expecting the Baku City Circuit to suit its car due to a very long flat-out section that puts emphasis on the power unit, Verstappen set the pace with a 1m44.410 on the supersoft tire having completed his opening runs on the mediums, with teammate Ricciardo then joining him at the top of the times with a 1m44.880, also set on the supersoft tire.

Sebastian Vettel was the only other driver to dip under the 1m45s barrier with a 1m44.967s, the Ferrari driver setting his time on the soft compound having not used the supersoft at any point during the opening session.

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While Sergio Perez was fourth quickest in what should have been an encouraging session for Force India, the Mexican - who finished on the podium in Baku a year ago – caused a red flag with a heavy crash late in the session. Perez appeared to take too much curb at the very tight Turn 8 – where the track winds around the walls of the old town – and wiped the right-hand side off his car on the outside barrier.

The incident was worrying as the right-rear wheel became completely detached and was bouncing on the track in a very narrow part of the circuit, although fortunately there was no car following closely behind. With the Force India heavily damaged, the car also took a long time to clear as marshals attempted to lift it through a gate into the old town before opting to carry the car further down the circuit.

In the end only six minutes of additional track running were possible when the session resumed, seeing little improvement at the top of the times. Lewis Hamilton ended up fifth fastest behind Perez, some one second off the pace set by Verstappen but also on the soft compound tire. Hamilton had been quickest on the softs and did attempt a supersoft run but was unable to get a clean lap in.

Valtteri Bottas joined his Mercedes teammate in the top six, with 0.3s between the pair despite Bottas managing to post a time on the supersoft tire. Bottas did have a moment when he clipped the wall on the outside of Turn 15 but managed to rejoin without serious damage. Esteban Ocon was seventh quickest in the second Force India ahead of Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen and Daniil Kvyat.

Kvyat's session was a disjointed one, with the Russian failing to post a time until the final six minutes after Perez's crash. Both Toro Rossos were very limited in their running, with Sainz also not setting a lap time until more than halfway through the session and the team only completing a total of 24 laps.

A number of drivers ran wide on the low-grip surface, with track conditions improving throughout the 90-minute session. Romain Grosjean was one such driver to suffer a problem, complaining of brake problems as he often took to escape roads, at one stage radioing to say, "Well, the brakes aren't working."