Monaco winner Max Verstappen picked up where he left off two weeks ago as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend got under way, a late effort on soft tyres seeing him head Free Practice 1 from the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz – as Lewis Hamilton posted Mercedes’ fastest time in P7, according to the Formula1.

Verstappen headed out on the pits on softs with 15 minutes of FP1 to go, but had his first flying lap baulked by the Haas of Nikita Mazepin, drawing an angry response from the Dutchman - with Mazepin later spinning into the wall at the exit of Turn 16. But Verstappen’s second effort was good enough to stop the clocks at 1m 43.184s.

Ferrari enjoyed impressive speed in Monaco, but played down their chances of carrying the form through to Baku. But judging by FP1, that was something of a bluff, Leclerc winding up just 0.043s adrift of Verstappen in P2, while Sainz was around three-tenths further back in P3.

Two-time Baku podium finisher Sergio Perez was fourth for Red Bull, ahead of the McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo, who briefly led the session before finishing 0.548s off Verstappen.

The Practice 1 results of the Formula 1 Azerbaıjan Grand Prıx 2021 are as follows:

1 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing 1:43.184

2 Charles LECLERC Ferrari +0.043s

3 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari +0.337s

4 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull Racing +0.446s

5 Daniel RICCIARDO McLaren +0.548s