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Verstappen leads Red Bull one-two in practice

ByAutoSport

Published 23/06/2017 at 11:23 GMT

Max Verstappen headed a Red Bull one-two in opening free practice session for Formula 1's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Eurosport

Image credit: Eurosport

Verstappen clocked a 1m44.410s using super-soft Pirellis and ended the session 0.470 seconds seconds clear of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel a tenth further back in third.
Most of the field headed out on the soft tyres early on, with Lewis Hamilton setting the pace on that rubber in the Mercedes.
Several drivers, including Romain Grosjean, Vettel and Jolyon Palmer, ran off track after locking up on what was a very green track, while Valtteri Bottas had a spin at the uphill Turn 12 on the way out of the tight castle section.
With 30 minutes to go, the focus switched to the super-softs with Verstappen leading the way.
The session was red-flagged with just under 20 minutes to go, when Sergio Perez crashed heavily at the narrow Turn 8.
The Force India driver took too much kerb on entry, pitching the car into the wall on the exit and causing significant damage to the front-right corner.
Perez had had a strong session up until then, setting a fourth quickest time that put him over three tenths clear of team-mate Esteban Ocon.
The marshals took just over 10 minutes to clear the car and debris, allowing the session to get restarted with just under six minutes to go.
Hamilton failed to get a clean lap on the super-softs, making mistakes on his first run and then getting baulked by traffic on his second.
He ended the session fifth, a second off the pace, while team-mate Bottas was 0.3s further back in sixth after also struggling to get a clean lap in.
Ocon was seventh, with Felipe Massa - who looked strong on the softs - eighth in the leading Williams.
Kimi Raikkonen was ninth, 1.590s off the pace, and Daniil Kvyat sneaked into the top 10 with his final timed lap of the session.
Kvyat and Toro Rosso team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr ran different T-wing configurations early on before spending most of the session in the garage. The duo did most of their running in the final few minutes.
Lance Stroll ended the session 11th, ahead of the two Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen and Grosjean.
PRACTICE ONE TIMES:
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