Baku off with a bang…literally

It was a bit of a wild and wooly start to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend on Friday with sewer covers coming off, trucks hitting bridges and people being ran over by the rear wheels of a Ferrari.

It started in FP1 when Williams F1 driver, George Russell, ran over the top of a manhole cover which lifted up and crashed into the underbody of the Williams car sending carbon fiber everywhere and ending his Friday practice sessions with a severely damaged monocoque.

If that wasn’t bad enough for Williams, the flatbed loader equipped with a crane proceeded to take the stricken Williams back to the garage but it left its recovery crane too high in the air and when traveling under a bridge, the crane arm slammed into the overhead structure. This caused a hydraulic fluid leak from the crane arm which poured down all over the Williams car underneath it.

If it had to happen to any team, Williams F1 was certainly not the team to pick. Tight on cash and development money, a damaged monocoque was not what they were planning on and team boss Claire Williams was rather measured in her response suggesting they would take the matter up with the FIA.

Daniil Kvyat and Lance Stroll brought out red flags and Kevin Magnussen nearly took Lewis Hamilton’s nose off but that’s most likely not how Kevin saw the incident.

There was also a good reminder of why you don’t push and F2 car while running alongside just ahead of the rear wheels.

F2 driver runs over two marshals pushing his car at #AzerbaijanGP

This is already the 3rd incident this weekend and we’re just halfway through Friday

#F1 #AzerbaijanGP #Formula2 #F2 pic.twitter.com/eGXfvwTAGx

— Eau rouge (@Insidef1) April 26, 2019

Regardless, Ferrari seemed to be quick on Friday with Charles Leclerc leading the way even though the red cars were trimmed out with more downforce than others.