George Russell of Mercedes topped the timesheets in the first practice session of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, edging out Max Verstappen from Red Bull. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli managed only fifth place after failing to complete a lap on the fastest soft tires due to a hydraulic fluid leak that forced him to stop on track.
Russell, trailing Antonelli by 81 points in the standings, was 0.4 seconds quicker than Verstappen. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in the Ferrari cars secured third and fourth positions respectively, both just 0.4 seconds behind Russell. Notably, neither Ferrari used the soft tires during this session as teams opted for different programs at the start of the weekend in Baku.
Antonelli, who was 0.878 seconds slower than Russell, set the fastest time early on while running on hard tires. However, on his first flying lap with the soft tires, he stopped at the first corner with smoke billowing from his car. This incident caused Antonelli to miss half of the practice session.
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