George Russell has grabbed the top spot in first practice for this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, posting the quickest time despite a nervy moment early in the session. The Mercedes driver nearly went sideways at Turn 5 but kept it together and went on to set the pace ahead of Max Verstappen, who finished second and sits ready to hunt Russell down when things get serious. The rest of the frontrunners are shaping up nicely too, with Charles Leclerc in third and Lewis Hamilton fourth, both in Ferrari machinery.

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It was one of those messy FP1 sessions where things don't run smoothly for everyone. Isack Hadjar's Red Bull return was hampered by a mechanical gremlin that forced him down the order, while Oscar Piastri suffered his own mechanical issues in the McLaren. Andrea Kimi Antonelli also had an afternoon to forget, stopping out on track with a hydraulic problem in his Mercedes before limping back. These kinds of gremlins usually get sorted by Saturday, but they're the sort of things that can rattle teams heading into a big weekend.

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Looking at the timing sheet, Kimi Antonelli finished fifth despite his stoppage, with Oscar Piastri sixth when he did get running properly. Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad sitting seventh and eighth respectively show Racing Bulls are getting their stuff together here. Lando Norris was down in fourteenth, well off the pace, which might raise some eyebrows given McLaren's form this season. With Saturday's race format still fresh in everyone's minds, expect the intensity to ramp up once FP2 rolls around and teams start pushing harder.

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