George Russell sets personal F1 season first as Arvid Lindblad crashes again

George Russell remarkably became only the second driver this season to top the opening two practice sessions of a grand prix weekend.

A significant tow along the main straight at the Baku City Circuit enabled Russell to comfortably beat Red Bull's Max Verstappen by four-tenths of a second in FP1.

In FP2, Russell finished just over half a second clear of Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli, who missed most of the first session and 30 minutes of the second following a hydraulics failure on his W17 in FP1 that necessitated a power unit change in between.

Only Antonelli had previously finished quickest in FP1 and FP2 this season, doing so ahead of the Austrian GP. 

Russell posted a lap of one minute 43.347s to spearhead a comfortable Mercedes one-two, with Verstappen over eight-tenths of a second adrift to sit third on the timesheet, followed by Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

The seven-time F1 champion is under investigation by the stewards, however, for seriously impeding Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson.

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On his return to Red Bull, after missing the last three grands prix due to a wrist injury sustained during the summer break, Isac Hadjar was the first driver to venture onto the soft tyres, producing a lap of 1:45.462s, just under a second behind Verstappen.

After 20 minutes, Arvid Lindblad sparked the first red flag of the event, clipping a barrier hard with the right-rear of his Racing Bulls on the approach into the castle section. There was a secondary impact with a barrier 20 metres later before he eventually came to a rest further up the hill.

It was Lindblad's second successive FP2 crash after doing so in the Spanish GP in Madrid 13 days ago.

Following a nine-minute delay to clear the debris, the remainder of the field filed out on soft rubber given the time lost, embarking on their first serious push laps of the day.

For Haas driver Oliver Bearman, however, the rest of his session lasted no more than a few seconds as his car switched off between Turns 1 and 2. The Briton radioed in to say his "engine broke".

On his first flying lap since retiring in FP1, Antonelli managed to post the sixth-quickest lap at that stage.

Team-mate Russell then set the benchmark with a lap of 1:43.759s, and although Verstappen purpled the first sector soon after, he finished four-tenths of a second adrift by its culmination.

McLaren's Lando Norris then appeared as if he would go quickest after beating Verstappen's first sector time, and with the benefit of a tow along the main straight from Audi's Nico Hulkenberg, only to abort the lap.

Russell, though, improved on his leading time by four-tenths of a second to become the first driver to dip below one minute 44 seconds, to comfortably take the honours.

Norris finished sixth quickest ahead of Alpine's Pierre Gasly, followed by the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri. Hadjar and Haas' Esteban Ocon completed the top 10.