George Russell was the fastest driver in the first practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, narrowly beating Red Bull's Max Verstappen. Russell, who is currently 81 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli, set a time that was 0.4 seconds faster than Verstappen. Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton followed closely, finishing third and fourth, both just over 0.4 seconds behind Russell. Antonelli, who leads the championship, was fifth fastest, but he did not complete a full lap on the fastest soft-compound tires due to a hydraulic leak. He was the fastest on the harder tires early in the session but ended up 0.878 seconds slower than Russell. Antonelli stopped at Turn One on his first lap on the soft tires, with smoke coming from the cooling vents on his car. He missed half the session and will need to make up time during the second session later in the day. Both Russell and Verstappen made errors during the session. Russell ran off the road while braking for the fourth corner, and Verstappen had a problem at Turn One. Antonelli completed just nine laps, and his team will need to repair his car for the second session later on Thursday. Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad finished seventh and eighth, ahead of Haas driver Esteban Ocon, who is currently fighting to keep his Formula One career going after admitting he is a free agent for the 2027 season. The Audi drivers, Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg, both of whom have received major upgrades to their cars, finished ninth and 10th. Hulkenberg stopped on track with a technical issue toward the end of the session, shortly after Lindblad made an error at Turn Seven and stopped facing the barriers. Lindblad was able to reverse out and continue. Isack Hadjar returned to his Red Bull cockpit after missing the past three races due to a wrist injury. He has renewed his contract to stay with Red Bull for next season but completed only eight laps before suffering an engine problem. Oscar Piastri finished sixth for McLaren, one place ahead of Liam Lawson, who is now back at Racing Bulls after substituting for Hadjar in recent races. Lando Norris was only 14th in the session, despite expectations that the Azerbaijan circuit might not suit his McLaren well. The second practice session is scheduled to start at 16:00 local time (13:00 BST), with drivers aiming to fine-tune their setups ahead of qualifying and the race.