Verstappen fastest in Baku first practice plagued by red flags

Three-time defending champion Max Verstappen topped the timesheets in the first practice for the Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Friday as the session had three red flags.

The Red Bull driver clocked 1 minute 45.546 seconds around the narrow street circuit in Baku in his last flying lap to beat Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes by 0.313 seconds. Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull was third.

Verstappen still tops the drivers' standings, 62 points ahead of Lando Norris of McLaren, but the Dutchman hasn't won in six races and failed to make it to the podium in four of them. Norris finished the session in fourth.

The first red flag came early in the session after marshals had to go on track to remove a small piece of metal that could definitely cause damage to the cars.

The session was again interrupted at the half-hour mark after Monza GP winner Charles Leclerc failed to make it around Turn 15 and crashed his Ferrari.

Leclerc has a bitter past in Baku, with crashes in qualifying in 2019 and in the sprint race qualifying in 2023.

A final red flag came out with some 15 minutes left in the session after Franco Colapinto slid wide into the wall and caused a lot of damage to his Williams.

Second practice is later with qualifying on Saturday after the last practice session.