Baku (Azerbaijan), Jun 10 (IANS): Red Bull's Sergio Perez topped the timesheets in opening practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc slotting into second.

Perez, the winner of the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, used the soft tyres to go quickest, 0.127s ahead of Leclerc and championship leader Max Verstappen.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was fourth with Alpine's Fernando Alonso shooting up to P5 very late in the session. Alonso's late jump bumped Lewis Hamilton to P6, the Mercedes one of a number of cars that appeared to be aggressively bouncing, particularly on the near-2km straight, while several drivers commented on the windy conditions.

Yuki Tsunoda was an impressive seventh in the leading Alpha Tauri, a fraction ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpha Tauri's Pierre Gasly -- the Frenchman having taken a trip down an escape road earlier on to finish ahead of compatriot Esteban Ocon (Alpine, P10).

Lando Norris was 11th, 2.2s off the pace, with his McLaren teammate Daniel Ricciardo down in 18th.

Lance Stroll was 12th, a fraction clear of Haas's Kevin Magnussen and Sebastian Vettel -- both Aston Martin drivers having set their times on mediums.

Valtteri Bottas was the top Alfa Romeo, the team running a one-off special livery in Baku as part of their SUV launch, in 15th with teammate Zhou Guanyu a tenth off in P16.