The Azerbaijan Grand Prix around the streets of Baku never fails to deliver drama, and the one and only practice session of the weekend brought plenty of chaos.
In the opening five minutes, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz ran off the track and left some paint on a wall.
Yuki Tsunoda then brought out a yellow flag after picking up a puncture when he spun his AlphaTauri into a wall after less than ten minutes on track.
Then smoke began to pour out of the Alpine of Pierre Gasly just five minutes later.
It quickly burst into flames as Gasly leapt from the car. While marshalls worked to quell the fire, smoke continued to pour from the car for over five minutes.
“This is a horrendous start to the weekend for Alpine,” a Sky Sports commentator said.
Watch the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2023 live and ad-break free during racing on Kayo Sports this Sunday, 30 April, at 9:00pm AEST. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
McLaren downplays Baku upgrade expectations but says ‘B-spec car’ is in the works
At exactly the same time, the Haas of Kevin Magnussen was also forced to shut down on the trackside run-off after an unknown problem.
Ted Kravitz revealed on Sky Sports the issue was a loss of hydraulic pressure – i.e. due to a leak – with the team previously telling Gasly not to change gears.
Charles Leclerc ran wide in the final 10 minutes – his second trip to the escape road of the session.
American Logan Sargeant of Williams then had such a big lockup that his front wing dragged along the ground and forced him back to the pits.
Max Verstappen was first on the timesheets with 1:42.315s, 0.037s ahead of Charles Leclerc and 0.139s ahead of Sergio Perez.
There was good news for McLaren with Lando Norris fifth behind the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.
Australia’s Oscar Piastri was 12th despite brushing the wall on turn 15, one place behind Lewis Hamilton in the leading Mercedes.
HOW CAN I WATCH IT?
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is live and ad-break free during racing on Kayo Sports and Fox Sports.
Practice is tonight at 7:30pm (AEST) followed by qualifying at 11pm.
The first-ever sprint shootout starts at 6:30pm on Saturday followed by the sprint race at 11:30pm.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix starts at 9pm on Sunday.
Watch the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2023 live and ad-break free during racing on Kayo Sports this Sunday, 30 April, at 9:00pm AEST. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
