Lewis Hamilton tops opening session in Baku

Lewis Hamilton was the fastest driver in first practice for the European Grand Prix in Azerbaijan as Mercedes once again showed their strong pace early on.

The Mercedes driver lapped the Baku City circuit in 1 minute 46.435 seconds, just under four tenths of a second faster than team mate Nico Rosberg who finished the session in second.

The circuit's high speed nature was expected to favour the Mercedes-powered cars and the top three reflected that with Williams' Valtteri Bottas in third.

Fernando Alonso was a surprise fourth, lapping over a second and a half off the pace setting time while Sebastian Vettel completed the top five in a session which saw many drivers try to find the limits of Formula One's newest track.

There was one red flag in the session, with Daniel Ricciardo hitting the wall hard at turn 15.

It turned out to be a difficult practice for Red Bull, with Ricciardo's team mate Max Verstappen sidelined for much of the 90 minute session with clutch issues.

"Max looks like a clutch issue so we're changing the clutch. We want it done properly for session two," team principal Christian Horner told the BBC. "You saw what happened with Daniel, it will be a rush to turn the car around for session two. For all the teams it is stretching the spare part with the three street tracks in succession."

AZ Baku City Circuit - 17 June 2016

Replies (1)

Login to reply
  • I hardly think this is representative, I dont expect McLaren to score points on this track, unless people retire.

    • + 0
    • Jun 17 2016 - 16:41

AZ Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Local time 

AZAzerbaijan Grand Prix

Local time 

Test calendar

See full test schedule

World Championship standings 2026

Show full world champion standings

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2026

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Spain
-
Bahrain
-
Bahrain
6 - Mar 8
Australia
13 - Mar 15
China
27 - Mar 29
Japan
10 - Apr 12
Bahrain
17 - Apr 19
Saudi Arabia
1 - May 3
United States of America
22 - May 24
Canada
5 - Jun 7
Monaco
12 - Jun 14
Spain
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2026

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
6 - Mar 8
Australia Albert Park
13 - Mar 15
27 - Mar 29
10 - Apr 12
17 - Apr 19
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
1 - May 3
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
22 - May 24
5 - Jun 7
Monaco Monte Carlo
12 - Jun 14
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Team Red Bull Racing
  • Points 3,457
  • Podiums 127
  • Grand Prix 236
  • Country NL
  • Date of b. Sep 30 1997 (28)
  • Place of b. Hasselt (Belgie), NL
  • Weight 70 kg
  • Length 1.8 m
Show full profile

Team profile

Show full profile
show sidebar