13/09/2024
NEWS STORY
Ahead of today's opening session the air temperature is 30 degrees C, while the track temperature is 45 degrees. There is a 10% chance of rain.
As a reminder, Oliver Bearman replaces Kevin Magnussen who is banned for one race after accruing 12 penalty points in as many months.
In terms of updates, Red Bull has a new Floor Body aimed at improving the pressure gradients along the floor to improve the flow locally and downstream in all conditions, Aston Martin has a new Rear Corner whose revised lower deflector bottom edge geometry modifies the local flowfield around the rear part of the floor improving its performance and RB has a new Front Wing of which the less cambered front flap reduces the amount of overall load generated by the front wing assembly, to efficiently balance the car at circuits which are both low-drag and low-balance.
And that's it.
In terms of that new floor on the Red Bull, only one of the drivers will be running it as the team carries out a back-to-back test.
At Mercedes the German team has ditched the new floor it introduced in Belgium and has reverted to the Silverstone version.
The lights go green and Stroll leads the way, followed by Albon, Ricciardo, Tsunoda and Piastri.
In no time at all there are 18 drivers on track, Hulkenberg and Colapinto being the no-shows.
All three compounds are in use though Verstappen is the only driver on softs.
As ever the track is very dusty with Piastri reporting low grip.
"It's super easy to turn right, but harder to turn left, it doesn't feel right," reports Norris.
Of the first wave, Leclerc is quickest (48.340), ahead of Perez, Piastri, Bottas and Stroll.
Verstappen has switched to mediums having scrubber that set of softs.
A 47.618 sees Hamilton go top as Bottas heads down one of the many escape roads after overdoing it.
As in Monza, Hamilton warns that his seat is "very hot".
All bar Ocon are now on track as Verstappen goes fourth with a 48.664.
"Bottoming level is quite high through the high speed," reports Piastri. "It's not exactly straight forward."
"This is not a car," says Stroll. "This is not a car right now."
Verstappen goes top with a 47.214 as the session is red-flagged.
Seemingly it's due to debris on track.
"I've got something in my left elbow aggravating me," claims Russell. Hamilton? Antonelli?
As Race Control confirms that the session will resume at 13:47, it's Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton, Piastri and Hulkenberg.
Ocon gets the session underway again, followed by Leclerc, Sainz, Hulkenberg and Russell.
"I've got a problem, I have no power," reports Ocon who appears to be suffering a hydraulics issue.
Sainz has to reverse on to the track after getting it wrong in Turn 7.
McLaren running a back-to-back test with its rear wings, Piastri running more wing than his teammate.
Leclerc goes top with a 46.608 as Russell goes third and Ricciardo fifth.
However, shortly after Leclerc goes off into the barrier at Turn 15, bringing out the red flag again.
Replay shows he simply carried too much speed into the left-hander, though the Monegasque blames the dirt.
The session resumes at 14:04 at which point Hulkenberg is released into the path of Albon.
As the drivers switch to softs Ricciardo goes third but is demoted when Perez crosses the line at 46.586. Moments later Piastri posts a 46.282 and Norris a 46.027.
Bearman goes seventh and Hulkenberg eighth.
Oh dear, Colapinto goes into the wall at Turn 4 bringing out the third red flag of the session.
"Sorry for that guys," he says, the Argentine currently ahead of his teammate, though Albon has yet to try the softs.
While Colapinto, Leclerc and Ocon are missing out on valuable running, these three red flags are not exactly helping their rivals.
The session resumes at 14:19 with Russell leading the way, ahead of Sainz, Alonso, Norris and Stroll.
Unnoticed ahead of that last red flag, Hamilton had gone quickest with a 45.859.
The yellows are briefly waved when Albon has a moment in Turn 4.
As Verstappen goes quickest in S1, Alonso goes fifth overall with a 46.452.
Verstappen subsequently crosses the line at 45.895, 0.036s down on Hamilton.
Hamilton is the latest to take advantage of the track's numerous escape roads.
Perez goes fifth with a 46.272 as Russell dives down the escape road at Turn 1.
"My car is bouncing like hell," reports Tsunoda.
"Huge understeer mid-corner," reports Stroll, "it's mechanical," he adds.
Quickest in S1, Sainz loses time in the second sector and ultimately fails to improve.
PBs in the first two sectors are enough for Perez to claim third (45.922), as his teammate responds with a 45.546 to go top.
As the session ends, Sainz has a very, very close encounter with the barriers.
Verstappen is quickest, ahead of Hamilton, Perez, Norris, Sainz, Piastri, Alonso, Russell, Leclerc and Ricciardo.
Bearman is eleventh, ahead of Hulkenberg, Stroll, Bottas, Tsunoda, Colapinto, Albon, Gasly, Zhou and Ocon.
Check out our Friday gallery from Baku here.