Russell leads Baku practice as hydraulic leak sidelines Antonelli

George Russell set the fastest time in opening practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, while Mercedes team-mate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli lost half the session to a hydraulic leak. According to BBC Sport, Russell finished 0.4 seconds ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen as the teams began running in Baku.

Antonelli was fifth on the timesheet, 0.878 seconds behind Russell, but his position came without a completed lap on the fastest soft-compound tyres. He had led the early running on hard tyres before his programme was interrupted. On his first lap using softs, the Italian stopped at Turn One, with smoke emerging from the engine cover's cooling vents.

The interruption left Antonelli short of track time ahead of the second practice session later in the day. Russell trails him by 81 points in the championship, so the two Mercedes drivers began their Azerbaijan running in contrasting circumstances: one at the head of the times, the other unable to complete his planned soft-tyre work.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were third and fourth respectively, each a little more than 0.4 seconds slower than Russell and close behind Verstappen. Neither Ferrari driver used the soft compound. BBC Sport reported that teams followed different programmes, an important distinction when reading an opening-session order produced on different tyre choices.

Antonelli was not the only driver to stop with a mechanical issue. Nico Hulkenberg's Audi halted on track with a technical problem late in the session. Both his car and team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto's were carrying a major upgrade, giving Audi development work to carry out alongside its preparations for the Azerbaijan race.

Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad also had a disrupted moment, making an error at Turn Seven and ending up facing the barriers. He was able to reverse away and continue. His incident came shortly before Hulkenberg stopped, adding to the late-session difficulties described in the BBC's report.

The two fastest drivers also made mistakes. Russell missed his braking point at Turn Three and used the run-off area, while Verstappen did the same at Turn One. Both nevertheless ended the session ahead of the Ferraris, with Russell setting the initial benchmark despite a difficult opening practice for the other Mercedes.