Valtteri Bottas made the ideal start to the Azerbaijan GP weekend by setting the quickest time in the first practice session on Friday.
The Finn lapped the Baku street circuit in 1m44.242s to just pip the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo by a three-hundredths of a second. Interestingly, the Shanghai race winner would set his best on used Supersoft tyres compared to Bottas on fresh Ultrasoft, perhaps suggesting the Milton Keynes outfit hold the advantage.
Force India created plenty of reason for optimism with Sergio Perez moving up to third late on and Esteban Ocon also running well in fifth.
Lewis Hamilton would be almost a second down on the leading duo in fourth and was one of many drivers to take the various escape roads around the track as getting temperature into the brakes and front tyres proved troublesome.
That would be nothing compared to Max Verstappen, however, as the Dutchman lost control of the rear of his Red Bull under braking for Turn 5 and slid sideways into the barrier, ending his session early.
Ferrari had a muted start with Sebastian Vettel only 10th, while a suspected engine problem left Kimi Raikkonen in the garage for the final half an hour or so.
With the session blighted by numerous yellow flags with the drivers running off track, the order was mixed with Fernando Alonso seventh for McLaren with Sergey Sirotkin eighth in the Williams.
Back on a circuit characterised by straights and technical corners, Pierre Gasly also ran well in ninth for Toro Rosso.
Lance Stroll, who finished on the podium in Baku last year, hinted that a better weekend for Williams could be in store in 11th ahead of Brendon Hartley.
Both Renault drivers saw their sessions ended early by large lock-ups wrecking their tyres, leaving usual top 10 suspects Nico Hulkenberg in 13th and Carlos Sainz at the bottom of the timesheet.
Haas' old weakness under braking also re-emerged with Romain Grosjean running off on several occasions. The Frenchman would only be 14th fastest with teammate Kevin Magnussen, who was involved in a brief battle with Gasly on the main straight, down in 18th.
The two Sauber's ran 16th and 17th with Stoffel Vandoorne stranded in the garage due to a mechanical issue and ending 18th.
