Lewis Hamilton blitzed his way to the top of the order in opening practice for the inaugural Formula One race to be staged in Azerbaijan.
World champion Hamilton, who is within nine points of Nico Rosberg following victories at the last two races in Monaco and Canada, posted a best lap of one minute and 46.435 seconds at a street circuit which has been billed as the quickest in the sport's history.
While Hamilton, who chose not to walk the track on Thursday and completed limited running on the simulator, was a third of a second faster than Rosberg, it was not a straightforward session for the Briton. He tapped the wall on the entrance to turn three, and then overshot turn one at the picturesque but twisty and narrow Baku Street Circuit.
But Daniel Ricciardo was the first to fall foul of the challenging 3.7-mile circuit after he lost control of his Red Bull at turn 15 and slid into the barrier.
While the impact was a relatively slow one, it was enough to sustain significant damage to the right rear of his car, and he came to a halt moments later. The red flags were immediately deployed before the session re started 10 minutes later.
Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion, had warned that a lack of run-off area particularly at turns three, seven and 14 could contribute to a big accident.
But Ricciardo was, perhaps surprisingly, the only driver in the barriers during the opening 90-minute session. Carlos Sainz almost suffered a similar accident to the Ricciardo, but the Spaniard came up short of making contact with the wall.
The Mercedes duo held a healthy advantage over the rest of the field with Valtteri Bottas, who finished on the podium in Canada last Sunday, best of the rest.
The Williams driver was sixth-tenths of a second slower than Hamilton, while Fernando Alonso was next up for McLaren, albeit 1.5 seconds off the pace. Button was seventh, one second slower than his team-mate.
Sebastian Vettel was robbed of his first victory of the campaign last Sunday following a curious strategical call by his Ferrari team, and the four-time champion, was fifth here, more than two seconds slower adrift of Hamilton.
Baku is making its debut on the calendar in the European Grand Prix.
And despite the downturn in Azerbaijan's economy following the slump in oil prices, it is a race which will be staged for a minimum of five years.
Signs which read: "Well done, Baku", and "Baku welcomed all of us" adorned the track, while the Azernews - the country's number one international newspaper - described the event as "the most exciting race of the year" despite a grand prix yet to be run.
Azerbaijan's human rights record has courted criticism, but Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One's chief executive, insisted on Thursday that the sport's conscience is "100 per cent" clear.
Source: PA
