© Getty Images

Free Practice Update - Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2021Round six is underway at the Baku City Circuit, Azerbaijan.

Thisweekendwereturnto“TheLandOfFire”andthecityofBakuforthefifthtimeinFormulaOne,afternotvisitingherein2020.

Boasting a unique street track, the Baku City Circuit consists of tight and twisty areas, such as the narrow castle section, as well as wide open racing – most notably the 2.22 kilometre long main straight.

Baku Pre-Race Programme© Red Bull Racing Honda

Similar to Monaco this weekend’s track is an unforgiving circuit and anything can happen across the race weekend. However, when it counts on Sunday, overtaking is possible, unlike at Monte Carlo.

But before we get to that point in the weekend, it's the all important practice to take care of. The Bulls got their weekend up and running on Friday afternoon, for Free Practice One, with Checo heading out on track early.

At the end of the hour Max was top of the timesheet in P1 with a fastest time of 1:43.184. The Dutchman managed a total of 19 laps. Checo brought the RB16B home in P4 setting a 1:43.630. He completed 17 laps.

For the final session of Friday, Free Practice Two, the timesheets looked good from a Team perspective. Checo ended the hour in P1 setting the fastest time of the session with a 1:42.115. The Mexican racked up 22 laps. Max wasn't far behind his teammate in P2 with a 1:42.216. He completed 23 laps in total.

Saturday's final practice session, Free Practice Three, witnessed plenty of action. Checo finished the session in P2 with a best time of 1:42.595. He completed 19 laps. Max's session ended early after hitting the barriers at turn 15. He managed to complete six laps and his best time of 1:43.984 saw him end of the hour in P15.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2021: Free Practice

Bull On The Baku Streets© Getty Images

Getting In Some Practice© Getty Images

Oh What A Sight© Getty Images

Eyes On The Bull In Baku© Getty Images

Capturing Checo At The Castle© Getty Images

Getting To The Garage© Getty Images

Perfect From Every Angle© Getty Images

Checo Tops Free Practice Two© Getty Images

Finishing Friday In Style© Getty Images

Yamamoto And Christian Trackside© Getty Images

The Boots Of Baku© Getty Images

Curb Riding With Checo© Getty Images

Checking Out The Caspian© Getty Images

Parking It Up For The Day© Getty Images

WhatWasSaid

Checo

“I’m happy with today and I think we’ve definitely made some good progress. We did a very good analysis after Monaco and today felt like I am understanding the car more and how I need to drive it. I think this is probably the best Friday of the season for me, it’s the most complete in terms of data and how comfortable I feel with the car. Hopefully we can get a good, clean lap in qualifying tomorrow which is when it matters, but we’ll still work hard tonight to improve and try to find some more lap time.”

Max

So far I think we look pretty strong as a Team and I’m very happy with that so let’s see what we can do tomorrow.

"Performance wise I think we had a great start to the weekend here in Baku. It was quite windy out there today which wasn’t easy for any of us, but it definitely makes things more interesting. In FP1 the car felt pretty decent, I was quite comfortable and then for FP2 we made a few changes to see if it was better but I don’t think it was, so we’ll look into that overnight and see what direction we will go for qualifying. So far I think we look pretty strong as a Team and I’m very happy with that so let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”

FreePracticeOneTop10

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Max Verstappen	Charles Leclerc	Carlos Sainz	Sergio Pérez	Daniel Ricciardo	Pierre Gasly	Lewis Hamilton	Lando Norris	Fernando Alonso	Valtteri Bottas
Red Bull Racing Honda	Ferrari	Ferrari	Red Bull Racing Honda	McLaren	AlphaTauri	Mercedes	McLaren	Alpine	Mercedes
1.43.184	1.43.227	1.43.521	1.43.630	1.43.732	1.43.757	1.43.893	1.43.996	1.44.777	1.44.891

FreePracticeTwoTop10

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Sergio Pérez	Max Verstappen	Carlos Sainz	Charles Leclerc	Pierre Gasly	Fernando Alonso	Antonio Giovinazzi	Lando Norris	Esteban Ocon	Yuki Tsunoda
Red Bull Racing Honda	Red Bull Racing Honda	Ferrari	Ferrari	AlphaTauri	Alpine	Alfa Romeo Racing	McLaren	Alpine	AlphaTauri
1.42.115	1.42.216	1.42.243	1.42.436	1.42.534	1.42.693	1.42.941	1.43.018	1.43.020	1.43.130

FreePracticeThreeTop10

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	…	15
Pierre Gasly	Sergio Pérez	Lewis Hamilton	Charles Leclerc	Carlos Sainz	Lando Norris	Fernando Alonso	Yuki Tsunoda	Esteban Ocon	Daniel Ricciardo	…	Max Verstappen
AlphaTauri	Red Bull Racing Honda	Mercedes	Ferrari	Ferrari	McLaren	Alpine	AlphaTauri	Alpine	McLaren	…	Red Bull Racing Honda
1.42.251	1.42.595	1.42.697	1.42.778	1.43.006	1.43.011	1.43.080	1.43.244	1.43.294	1.43.557	…	1.43.984