Red Bulls trail Leclerc after opening day in Azerbaijan

Perez and Verstappen trailed the Ferrari of Leclerc after the first day in Baku

Charles Leclerc once again set the pace ahead of the Red Bulls on the first day of practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was the pace setter in Baku on Friday. He led both Red Bulls of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen in the time sheets. | Getty Images

placeholder image — Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was the pace setter in Baku on Friday. He led both Red Bulls of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen in the time sheets. | Getty Images

The Ferrari driver set a time of 1:43.224 in FP2 around the streets of Baku, a quarter of a second ahead of Sergio Perez, who appeared once again to have the pace over team-mate Max Verstappen.

The Dutchman’s rear wing came under scrutiny in the first session after the DRS flap appeared to be shaking under the pressure of the bumpy main straight, and it meant Verstappen spent the early part of the second hour-long practice in the pits while his mechanics fixed the issue.

Max Verstappen was third fastest on the opening day of practice in Baku | Getty Images

Both Perez and Verstappen trailed Leclerc, whose Ferrari team-mate was down in fifth, nearly a second off the pace but he did not set a competitive time on the softer, quicker compound of Pirelli tyre during the session.

Verstappen leads the world championship standings from Leclerc by nine points, and a further six points from team-mate Perez following the Mexican’s win in Monaco last time out.