Leclerc third, Hamilton fourth for Ferrari in Azerbaijan Grand Prix first practice
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton put Ferrari third and fourth on the opening free-practice timesheet in Baku, with both drivers setting their fastest laps on Medium tyres.
- 1'45"791
- 1'45"824
- 25
- 50
What Happened
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished the first free practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with the third and fourth fastest times respectively, driving for Scuderia Ferrari HP. The pair began the session on Hard tyres, doing a series of laps to get to grips with the track and its walls. Hamilton's best time on the Hard compound was 1'46"365, while Leclerc stopped the clocks at 1'46"621. Midway through the session, the Ferraris were fitted with Medium tyres, on which both drivers set their best times.
1'45"791
His best of the session, set on Medium tyres, good for third fastest overall in FP1.
- 1'45"791 / 1'45"824
- 1'46"621 / 1'46"365
- Leclerc finished third fastest, Hamilton fourth.
- Both drivers completed 25 laps, 50 laps between them across the hour.
- Hamilton ran the Hards from the start of the session, Leclerc the Mediums.
- Toward the end of the hour the drivers did longer runs.
- Both Ferraris set their best times on Medium tyres.
Previously from Ferrari N.V.
Ferrari came into the Baku weekend after races that fell short on execution, with Lewis Hamilton saying the team's aim was a clean, well-executed weekend. Charles Leclerc said the Baku City Circuit rewards commitment and precision, but warned that qualifying is where Ferrari struggles most this year. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is the 15th round of the season, held on a reshuffled Thursday-to-Saturday schedule to avoid clashing with Azerbaijan's Remembrance Day.
- Hamilton targets a clean weekend for Ferrari at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
- Leclerc says commitment and precision are key as Ferrari heads to Baku for Azerbaijan Grand Prix
- Ferrari heads to Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on a reshuffled Thursday-to-Saturday schedule
Background drawn from MotorClaw's earlier coverage of Ferrari N.V.'s official releases.
Why this matters
First practice sets the weekend's early baseline, and both Ferrari drivers went quicker once the team switched them from Hard to Medium tyres. It feeds directly into the rest of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend for a team whose recent races fell short on execution and whose drivers have flagged qualifying as a weak point.
Terms in This Story
- Free practice
- A timed session before a race weekend's qualifying and race, where teams test car set-ups, tyre behaviour and track conditions; FP1 is the first such session.
- Tyre compound
- The specific rubber mixture used to build a tyre; harder compounds generally last longer but are slower, softer ones give more grip but wear faster.
- Monegasque
- A person from Monaco; in this article it refers to Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.