Sergio Perez accused the media of lacking understanding regarding Red Bull's recent issues, as the team rediscovered their pace in Friday's first practice at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Red Bull looked set to dominate Formula One again after making a flying start to 2024, but McLaren have made it a fight for the constructors' championship crown.

Max Verstappen won seven of the first 10 races of the season but has since failed to record a victory in six outings, while Perez has gone 11 races without a podium finish after achieving four in the first five races of the year.

Red Bull rediscovered their pace at first practice in Baku on Friday, though, with Verstappen finishing fastest ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Perez following in third.

Speaking ahead of that session, Perez acknowledged he had suffered more than Verstappen from difficulties with the team's RB20 car, but said many onlookers lacked understanding.

"I've had them probably for the last 15 months, with the car development, the direction, the trajectory we've been taking," Perez said of his issues. 

"I think it's a thing with the style of Max. The good thing is he was less sensitive to the issues we had, just by his nature.

"Some people don't understand it, especially from the media side, that different driver styles can come to different conclusions. 

"Ten, 12 races ago, I was complaining about these issues, but now they are so big that even Max is feeling them. I think the solution will benefit me even more with my style.

"It's very clear in the data, the team is fully aware of it and hopefully we can fix the issues soon going forwards. Then we can unlock a lot of performance from the car."

Friday's opening session at the Baku street circuit – where Perez is the only driver with multiple victories – saw Verstappen set a leading time of 1:45:546 on his last lap.

A chaotic session saw three red flags waved, with Charles Leclerc causing one of them when he hit a wall at Turn 15. 

Williams rookie Franco Colapinto also hit a barrier less than 10 minutes after the session resumed, with the running also being paused to allow the removal of debris from a dusty surface.

McLaren's Lando Norris had the fourth-fastest time, with Carlos Sainz in fifth and Oscar Piastri sixth, ahead of Fernando Alonso and George Russell.