Hamilton fastest on new Baku street circuit

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F1 Grand Prix, GP Europe, Baku Street Circuitaz

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap in the first practice session of the European Grand Prix during which drivers learned the ins and outs about this new territory. Nico Rosberg was second fastest and Valtteri Bottas third.

Times were arguably irrelevant in the first session, given that everybody focused on trying to get to know the track. Most drivers did not even compete a single lap in their team's simulator on it, so everything really had to be done from scratch, including the car's setups.

Even though the track is considered dangerous at some areas, including the lack of run-off at turn 2, most drivers kept their cars safely on the track. It was really only Daniel Ricciardo who shunted, completely ruining the right rear suspension of his Red Bull Racing car as he lost control of his car through turn 15 and ended up in the wall.

Results

Pos.No.DriverCarTimeGapLaps
144Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:46.435-23
26Nico RosbergMercedes1:46.812+0.377s32
377Valtteri BottasWilliams Mercedes1:47.096+0.661s34
414Fernando AlonsoMcLaren Honda1:47.989+1.554s21
55Sebastian VettelFerrari1:48.627+2.192s26
611Sergio PerezForce India Mercedes1:48.922+2.487s17
722Jenson ButtonMcLaren Honda1:49.019+2.584s21
819Felipe MassaWilliams Mercedes1:49.125+2.690s22
955Carlos SainzToro Rosso Ferrari1:49.267+2.832s16
1027Nico HulkenbergForce India Mercedes1:49.301+2.866s27
118Romain GrosjeanHaas Ferrari1:49.611+3.176s20
127Kimi RäikkönenFerrari1:49.635+3.200s16
133Daniel RicciardoRed Bull Racing Tag Heuer1:49.778+3.343s17
1421Esteban GutierrezHaas Ferrari1:50.167+3.732s25
159Marcus EricssonSauber Ferrari1:50.473+4.038s18
1633Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing Tag Heuer1:50.485+4.050s7
1726Daniil KvyatToro Rosso Ferrari1:50.551+4.116s19
1830Jolyon PalmerRenault1:50.910+4.475s25
1920Kevin MagnussenRenault1:50.939+4.504s27
2094Pascal WehrleinMrt Mercedes1:51.219+4.784s24
2112Felipe NasrSauber Ferrari1:51.771+5.336s11
2288Rio HaryantoMrt Mercedes1:51.925+5.490s28