Baku: Lando Norris set the pace during Friday's first practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, leading the way from McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc following a lengthy red flag.

According to Azerbaijan State News Agency, the session marked the return of F1 cars to the Baku City Circuit after a two-week break, with drivers eager to hit the track amid cloudy but dry weather conditions.

Both McLaren drivers received interesting radio messages early in the session, with Norris being instructed to return to the pits to remove a component cover, and Piastri advised to 'back off' and 'avoid full load'. Meanwhile, Gabriel Bortoleto of Kick Sauber highlighted the slippery track by going off at Turn 3, Alex Albon lost a mirror from his Williams, and George Russell reported a burning smell.

An incident at Turn 16, caused by Williams' Carlos Sainz running over the kerb and leaving part of it loose, triggered the first red flag of the weekend just under a quarter of the way into the session. Before the interruption, Norris had set a leading time of 1m 43.747s on Pirelli's soft tyres, ahead of Russell, Leclerc, and Max Verstappen.

After repairs to the kerb, the session resumed with 20 minutes left. Norris improved his time to 1m 42.704s, one second ahead of Verstappen and team mate Piastri. Lewis Hamilton clipped the wall at Turn 5, damaging his front wing and requiring a pit stop.

As the session concluded, Piastri placed three-tenths behind Norris, with Leclerc half a second adrift in third. Russell finished fourth for Mercedes, followed by Albon, Tsunoda, and Verstappen. Sainz placed inside the top 10, along with Lawson, Hadjar, and Antonelli. Hamilton's Ferrari was sandwiched between Sauber's Hulkenberg and Bortoleto in 12th to 14th positions, followed by Aston Martin and Haas drivers. Colapinto and Gasly rounded out the field for Alpine.

Teams will now analyze the data and consider adjustments before the second practice session, scheduled for 1600 local time.