Max Verstappen had the edge on title rival Lando Norris as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the pace in practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Verstappen hinted at a return to form in his battle with Norris by setting a blistering pace in first practice, while the McLaren driver was well off the Dutchman’s mark in either of Friday’s sessions.

Norris has cut Verstappen’s championship lead by 16 points over the last two races to ignite his title challenge, with the advantage now 62 points with eight races remaining.

But the 24-year-old struggled on Friday, managing only fourth in FP1, almost five tenths adrift of Verstappen, while he finished a lowly 17th in the second session – albeit having set his fastest time on the slower medium tyre.

“We’re quite a long way off,” Norris told F1 TV. “I’m having to push way too much to try and get a lap time out of it.

“I think where Oscar was is kind of more where we are, so I think if we nail it we’re just about there. But I’m sure they’re not even close to nailing it yet.

“I think we have quite a lot to find honestly comparing to Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull – they’re all very similar – and then there’s a good three or four tenths gap back to us. A lot of work for us to do.”

Leclerc harbours outside championship hopes of his own, with victory in Monza a fortnight ago putting him 86 points behind Verstappen, and the Monegasque responded to crashing out of the first session by ending the day on top.

Three-time world champion Verstappen is without a win in six races and claimed after the last race in Monza that, despite his sizeable lead, his title hopes were no longer “realistic”.

But Red Bull showed signed that they have found a solution to their recent issues around the streets of Baku, with Verstappen over three tenths clear of the field first time around.

Verstappen could manage only sixth in FP2, over half-a-second off Leclerc’s pace, but team-mate Sergio Perez – the only multiple winner in Baku – found some much-needed form by finishing the day in second and only six thousandths of a second behind the Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton complained of a hot seat in his Mercedes in Monza and was again highlighting the issue over the team radio during both sessions.

Despite that, Hamilton hinted at strong pace from Mercedes, after they rolled back on parts of a recent upgrade to their floor, by ending the day in third.

The second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz was fourth, ahead of Norris’ team-mate Oscar Piastri.

Leclerc was the fastest man on track before dumping his car into the wall just over halfway through the opening running.

It was a dramatic day, with Leclerc’s crash one of three red flags during the first session, while a host of drivers – including Verstappen and Sainz – ran off the track.

British driver Oliver Bearman enjoyed an encouraging first full weekend in F1 by finishing 10th fastest.

The 19-year-old from Essex, who was parachuted into Sainz’s Ferrari ahead of qualifying at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in March, is deputising for the banned Kevin Magnussen at Haas.