F1 Baku Free Practice: Ferrari leads, McLaren hits trouble

Free Practice 1: McLaren Leads the way, tsunoda Surprises

In FP1 F1 Baku of the 2025 Azerbaijan GP, McLaren immediately set the pace with an impressive one-two finish. Lando Norris topped the timesheets with a 1:42.704, followed three-tenths behind by teammate Oscar Piastri. Charles Leclerc finished third, half a second off the lead, just ahead of George Russell in a solid session for Mercedes. His teammate Kimi Antonelli ended up in 10th position.

Surprisingly, Red Bull struggled: Max Verstappen only managed seventh place, over a second behind Norris, trailing even Tsunoda and Albon.

A red flag temporarily interrupted the session after Carlos Sainz damaged a kerb by running over it, scattering debris across the track and forcing a suspension for safety repairs. Lando Norris’s McLaren hit a piece of debris just before the red flag, forcing him to pit for removal.

Williams confirmed their strong start to the weekend, with Albon finishing fifth and Sainz, despite his incident, managing eighth. Qualifying looks set to be closely contested, but so far, the weekend is looking promising for McLaren.

F1 Baku FP2: Ferrari 1-2, one McLaren hits the wall

In the second free practice session of the 2025 Azerbaijan GP, Ferrari showed impressive pace and consistency. Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets with a 1:41.293, closely followed by teammate Charles Leclerc, just 74 thousandths behind — confirming the strength of the Scuderia’s package at this stage of the weekend.

Mercedes also performed well, with George Russell in third and rookie Kimi Antonelli just behind in fourth. A surprising fifth place went to Oliver Bearman in the Haas, continuing his run of consistency. Max Verstappen remained off the pace, finishing sixth, six tenths behind the leader, while Liam Lawson brought the Racing Bulls to seventh.

It was a tough session for McLaren. Lando Norris hit the wall, damaging his rear-left suspension and compromising his run. He ended the session in 10th, while teammate Oscar Piastri could do no better than 12th.

Ferrari emerges as the clear frontrunner in FP2, but with qualifying still to come — and with the ever-unpredictable nature of a street circuit like Baku — nothing is set in stone yet.

Sainz, we’re happy with the car, but…

Interesting day for us. Happy with our long runs, but we seem to struggle again with the Soft tyre, so we need to keep working on it. The Soft and Medium tires are going to be extremely close in Quali, so we might see different approaches.

Cat steals the show in F1 Baku Paddock

Since Thursday, a special guest has been charming everyone in F1 paddock — a curious little cat who made itself right at home as drivers and teams arrived for the Azerbaijan GP. The feline quickly became the weekend’s unofficial mascot, collecting cuddles from drivers and team members alike.

Teams didn’t hesitate to feature their new friend on social media, with some even inviting it inside their motorhomes. Mercedes, in particular, shared a post on X showing the cat posing next to Kimi Antonelli’s helmet — and from the looks of it, the feline didn’t mind the spotlight one bit.

Much like the famous “Formulino” who stole the show in Imola a few years ago, this Baku kitty could be on its way to becoming the next furry icon of Formula 1. MIAOW!