Promising Start in Baku

• The opening day of running at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix offered a promising start, with warm conditions, and a track temperature in the high forties.

• While both drivers were able to complete their programme on the Hard tyres, Kimi’s first practice session came to an early end due to a loss of hydraulic pressure 9 laps in.

• George managed to top the timing sheet in this first session on the soft tyres, 4 tenths from Max Verstappen’s Red Bull in P2.

• The British driver entered FP2 on the C4 Medium compound while his Italian teammate waited in the garage, after a power unit change during the break between sessions.

• After a short interruption caused by Arvid Lindblad’s incident at T9, both drivers headed back on track on the Softer C3 compound for their single lap work.

• George finished fastest in this FP2 session, ending the day on the long run work and the C4 Medium compound.

• Kimi completes the front row after showing strong pace of the Softer C5 compound, only 5 tenths behind his teammate.

George Russell

It’s been a positive first day here in Baku. The car felt competitive over a single lap, and our race pace looks closely matched with McLaren and Red Bull. I’m sure those gaps will tighten even further when we get to qualifying tomorrow, so there’s still plenty of work to do overnight. Overall, though, it’s been an encouraging start to the weekend and a strong opening day for the team.

Kimi Antonelli

It was a somewhat compromised day due to the hydraulics issue we encountered, which cost us a significant amount of track time across both FP1 and FP2. We’re still working to understand exactly what caused the problem, but the team did a great job investigating it and, as a precaution, we changed the power unit to get back on track and complete some valuable running.

Despite the disruption, I felt comfortable in the car from the laps we were able to complete. We focused on maximising every opportunity and recovering as much track time as possible. Losing laps is never ideal, particularly on a street circuit like Baku where confidence builds with every run, but ending the day in P2 was a positive way to recover. The car felt good throughout, and we’ll keep working hard to build on that as the weekend progresses.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

We've had a solid day overall. George's car ran reliably throughout; he topped both sessions and completed a productive long run. There are still areas we can improve, as is always the case on a Friday, but the car is behaving well, and we're encouraged by what we've seen so far. We don't expect the gaps on today's timesheets to be representative of the true competitive picture. Several of our competitors left time on the table during their soft tyre runs, so we know the field is likely much closer than it appears.

Kimi's day was more disrupted. A hydraulic leak on his second run in FP1 brought an early end to the session after just three push laps. As a precaution, we elected to change the power unit, which delayed the start of his FP2 and cost him further running. Despite that, he was able to complete a useful mix of low and high-fuel work, and his pace was encouraging given the limited track time he had available. There is plenty to analyse overnight and some small gains to find, but overall we've made a positive start to the weekend.

FP1 Result

FP2 Result