<p>BAKU, Azerbaijan &mdash; Formula One leader Max Verstappen set the fastest time in the first practice session Friday for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.</p>
<p>Verstappen set a time of 1 minute, 43.184 seconds in his Red Bull to beat Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc by .043 seconds. The second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz was third, .337 seconds off the pace.</p>
<p>Mercedes didn’t challenge for the top positions, with Lewis Hamilton seventh and Valtteri Bottas 10th.</p>
<p>Verstappen heads into the weekend as championship leader for the first time after winning the Monaco Grand Prix.</p>
<p>Leclerc took pole position in Monaco but couldn’t start the race because of car damage. Leclerc has predicted Ferrari would drop back in Azerbaijan because the circuit has a long straight section.</p>
<p>The second practice session is later Friday.</p>
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