Ricciardo first crashes in Baku - VIDEO
Mercedec’s Lewis Hamilton led the field in the first Formula One practice session at the new Baku City Circuit.
Lap times improved quickly throughout much of the session on the recently-laid surface. Hamilton set his best time on a set of super-soft tyres, then spoiled a succession of laps with minor errors at turn one and turn three, according to f1fanatic.
Nico Rosberg ended up three-tenths of a second off his team mate while Valtteri Bottas showed well for William on the soft tyre compound, finishing up six-tenths of a second down on Hamilton.
Turn 15 proved a particular trouble spot for the drivers and with 20 minutes to go it was the scene of the most major incident of the session when Daniel Ricciardo became the first driver to hit the barrier. The Red Bull got off-line in the middle of turn 15 and wiped its right-rear suspension off on the wall. The red flag was thrown as the now three-wheeled Red Bull came to a stop.
Daniil Kvyat and Felipe Nasr had already had near-misses at the same corner, the Sauber driver locking his brakes and cutting across the inside kerbs to avoid hitting the same barrier. After the session resumed Carlos Sainz Jnr also ran wide there and made the slightest of contact with the barrier, damaging his front wing.
It was a tough session for Red Bull as Max Verstappenonly managed seven laps before smoke began to appear from the rear of his car, sending him into the pits.
Fernando Alonso was an encouraging fourth for McLaren on soft tyres while Sebastian Vettel took fifth with his final lap, also on softs.
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