Valtteri Bottas led Mercedes to the head of the timesheets as a number of drivers had off-track moments while trying to find their limits in the opening Formula 1 practice session of the Azerbaijan ꦺGrand Prix𒁏 weekend.

Bottas recorded a fastest lap time of 1:44.242 to finish just 0.035 seconds clear of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciard🐬o, who impressed with his run to P2 on the Superso🧜ft compound tyre.

Lewis Hamilton finished ℱalmost one second back of teammate Bottas, taking third place, but the rival Ferrari team had a more difficult session.

Sebastian Vettel could only finish ninth, completing 16 laps, while teammate Kimi Raikkonen was limited to just 10 laps due to🦩 a suspected rear brake issue that kept him in the garage for much of the session.

There was worse news for Max Verstappen in the second Red Bull, with his session c🐲oming to an early end after losing the rear of his car on entry to Turn 5 and hitting the barrier. The Dutchman was still able to finish sixth-fastest.

Force India showed signs of continuing its impressive Baku form as Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez finished fourth and fi🔯fth respectively, heading up the midfield.

Fernando Alonso took seventh for McLaren ahead of Williams’ Sergey Sirotk💎in, whose teammate Lance Stroll completed the top 10 behind Vettel.

The session was only interrupted by a Virtual Safety Car following Verstappen’s off, but a number♐ of drivers had brief excursions into the run-off area as they pushed to the limit around th𝔉e tight confines of the Baku City Circuit.

Second practice for the Az💯erbaijan Grand Prixꦆ begins at 2pm BST.