2023 F1 Azerbaijan GP FP1: What did we learn?

The first and only Free Practice session for the 2023 F1 Azerbaijan GP ended with Max Verstappen topping the timesheets. It was a session that saw unexpectedly far too many chaotic moments. Both Alpines were compromised early on, one with a power unit issue (Pierre Gasly) and the other with a hydraulic issue.

Kevin Magnussen suffered an issue with his power unit, meaning he was out of the session, while Yuki Tsunoda suffered a puncture early in the session to compromise his run.

Nevertheless, a few teams made use of the 60 minutes of running in the best way possible to get a run on both medium and soft tyres. In what would be the first and the last free practice session of the 2023 Azerbaijan GP, what were we able to learn? Let's find out.

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2023 F1 Azerbaijan GP FP1: Key takeaways

#1 Red Bull are in a different league

While it's still tough to predict where Mercedes and Aston Martin will fall in the pecking order, looking at what Ferrari were able to do, the Austrian squad is in a different league. The car is just too fast in the straight line, and no other team (except arguably AlphaTauri) comes close.

Moreover, Red Bull are still very competitive in the middle sector, where aerodynamic efficiency is key. To add to that, the team has brought a whole set of upgrades that would leave the competition disheartened. Overall, its advantage Red Bull as F1 comes back to life at the Azerbaijan GP.

#2 Mercedes, Aston Martin and Ferrari will be fighting among themselves again

The issue with Ferrari appears to be a peaky car where getting the lap time out of it for a lap is still possible but over a race distance is a question mark. Moreover, the team's overall operational acumen will be under severe pressure at the 2023 Azerbaijan GP, as the tow is going to play a key role when it comes to pulling off overtakes.

Talking about Aston Martin, the car looks very good and balanced on track. The lap times done by both drivers were not that impressive, though, as it does appear that the team will continue to fight it out for the last place on the podium.

Meanwhile, Mercedes have a question mark, as they could potentially take the challenge to Red Bull, as they were running much lower engine modes throughout the session. Having said that, not even trying a soft tyre run was a bit surprising, though.

#3 Alpine in trouble while McLaren appear to have improved

McLaren's new upgrades at the 2023 Azerbaijan GP appear to have promise, as Lando Norris put together a competitive time in FP1. It was a bit of a surprise to see why Oscar Piastri struggled against Norris, but that's something that would concern McLaren.

Alpine, meanwhile, had a shambolic session. Coming into the 2023 Azerbaijan GP, team boss Otmar Szafneur had talked about how the team wanted to challenge for P2.

Well, with both cars compromised early in the session, it's tough to see where the team stands in the overall pecking order, especially as they were unable to test the components either.

#4 Tow is going to play massive role in qualifying

The tow has always been very strong in Baku, but this time, that could be the difference between Q1 elimination or Q2 progression. The gap in midfield is non-existent at this stage, and with the tow providing a free three tenths of a second in a lap time, it's tough to see why no team would pursue it.

While Red Bull could be a lock for pole position (unless Leclerc has something to say about it), every other grid position could get shuffled with the impact of the tow.

#5 Engine reliability could rear its ugly head

At least one Renault power unit (Gasly's) is in the bin even before we have reached the business end of the 2023 Azerbaijan GP. Moreover, the Ferrari power unit on Kevin Magnussen's Haas seemingly encountered an issue.

If we look back at the 2022 Azerbaijan GP, we had these multiple PU failures because of the demands of the track. It appears that history might repeat itself, and teams might be forced to run conservatively for the rest of the weekend.