Just where Lawson stands won’t be known until later on the opening day of the weekend, with FP2 generally the most representative of the three practice sessions, given the similar time of day is the closest conditions will be to qualifying, 24 hours later.

The first session wasn’t without incident. More than one driver complained of issues with their brakes overheating in hot temperatures, while two cars caught fire – Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli.

Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar was also forced out of the session on his return from a wrist injury with an engine failure, and managed eight laps for the 20th fastest time.

The day’s second practice session gets underway at midnight on Friday (NZT), before qualifying at midnight on Saturday. The race weekend has been brought forward by 24 hours to commemorate Azerbaijan’s national remembrance day on Sunday.

Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.