Friday Morning in Baku: First Laps and Driver Errors
On Friday morning, the drivers gradually adapted to the challenging Baku street circuit, cautiously increasing their pace. The asphalt was dusty, causing the cars to slide, while the drivers complained about the usual lack of grip at the start of a race weekend.
George Russell, who had missed Thursday’s press conference due to illness, was back behind the wheel. All teams fielded their main drivers.
There were several incidents: Bortoleto went off into the run-off area at Turn 3, Albon lost part of his mirror, and Piastri returned to the pits on his opening lap due to power unit issues. On the 15th minute, the session was halted with red flags after a curb broke at Turn 16. The interruption lasted for some time as race control inspected curbs around the entire track.
After more than 20 minutes, the session resumed. Drivers went out on Soft tires to test the rarely used C6 compound. Hamilton clipped the wall at Turn 5, damaging his front wing and suffering a puncture, while Piastri brushed the barriers at Turn 15. Verstappen, Hadjar, and Ocon also made mistakes, running wide into the escape roads.
Lando Norris set the fastest time of the session with a 1:42.704 lap.
