Lando Norris topped the timesheets ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri as McLaren secured a commanding one-two in the first practice session of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
A red flag was brought out around 20 minutes into the session after a strip of rubber came loose from underneath the kerb at Turn 16, the final corner before the long pit straight. The loose section, dislodged by Williams driver Carlos Sainz, forced a lengthy delay while marshals worked to secure the track.
The interruption proved fortuitous for McLaren, affording the team time to fix a power-unit issue on Piastri’s car, discovered as the Australian emerged from the pits for his first lap. Piastri, who leads the championship by 31 points over Norris, managed 13 laps in total, five fewer than the Briton.
Norris posted a time 0.310 seconds faster than Piastri, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third, 0.552 seconds off the pace. Mercedes driver George Russell followed in fourth.
Lewis Hamilton endured a difficult session, damaging his front wing and suffering a puncture after clipping the inside wall at Turn Three. The seven-time world champion ended the session 12th fastest, 0.831 seconds adrift of team-mate Leclerc. Until the crash, Hamilton had been lapping around two-tenths slower than the Monegasque.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen showed signs of front-running pace but locked a wheel under braking into Turn 15 late in the session and had to take to the escape road. He finished seventh fastest behind Williams’ Alex Albon and his Red Bull team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.
Sainz, who triggered the red flag incident, ended the session eighth. He was followed by the Racing Bulls duo of Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar in ninth and tenth respectively.
