Antonelli experiences issues in Baku and forced to stop Mercedes

Antonelli had to stop his Mercedes car at Turn 7 of the Baku City Circuit. The young Italian just mounted a set of soft tyres, after he began the session on the hard compound.

Over the team radio, the current championship leader said that he had lost hydraulics.

The incident did not cause a red flag, as Antonelli managed to park his car in the right place. It only led to a brief Virtual Safety Car period.

After the VSC period ended, Russell began pushing as well. Mercedes nearly lost both cars within minutes, as the Briton took the escape road quite late while approaching Turn 3. Russell just managed to avoid hitting the wall with his front-left tyre.

Follow the first free practice session live from Baku with GPblog's liveblog here!