Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has surprisingly topped third and final practice for Formula 1’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, pipping Mercedes driver George Russell and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton on Baku’s tricky street circuit.
Verstappen took command at the very end of the one-hour session as teams switched to qualifying runs, defying Mercedes’ favourite status in Baku by catching a big slipstream to go fastest.
FP3, held in less representative conditions than qualifying later on Friday afternoon, got off to a quiet start, with the Alpines leading the early running some way off Thursday’s FP2 pace. The big-hitters started flexing their collective muscle 15 minutes into the session with Charles Leclerc’s second attempt on softs – yielding a 1m45.564s – demoting Ferrari team-mate Hamilton’s effort.
As drivers tried to hone their slipstreaming timing for qualifying, with the Baku City Circuit’s giant 2km straight making a tow a crucial element of a competitive lap, Red Bull’s Verstappen lunged to first place, only to be deposed by Hamilton’s 1m45.093s moments later.
Conditions appeared to be gustier than on Friday as race control deployed a brief virtual safety car for a tree branch which was swept onto the track. The wind also made cars less predictable to drive. Verstappen reported a Red Bull which was “jumping like a kangaroo” before going deep into the Turn 15 runoff, one of several drivers to make good use of Baku’s escape roads.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was not so lucky as he tagged the wall in Turn 1, damaging his front-left suspension which prompted the Canadian to park the car.
George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Liam Fabre
Mercedes, which was ominously quick on Thursday, started mixing it up at the halfway mark with Antonelli pipping Leclerc by half a tenth courtesy of a 1m45.046s lap, before Russell claimed top spot with a 1m44.715s lap – both on medium tyres rather than softs.
The Silver Arrows then showed their hands on the softest tyre compound as Russell put down a 1m44.177s marker with 15 minutes to go. As Russell shaved off some time with his subsequent 1m44.021s tour, Antonelli conceded 0.252s to his team-mate.
Verstappen benefitted from a huge slipstream to split the Mercedes cars in second, flattering the real performance of the Red Bull on a weekend set to be dominated by the championship leaders, and the Dutchman ultimately set a 1m43.922s lap to top the session.
Russell could have likely gone quicker still, however, but locked up the fronts into Turn 1 before going straight on in Turn 7, managing to bring the car to a halt without tapping the wall.
With a last-minute effort Hamilton pipped Antonelli to third, followed by Leclerc and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. McLaren’s low-profile weekend continued with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in seventh and eighth respectively despite the team’s upgrades to improve its low-speed cornering.
The returning Isack Hadjar claimed ninth for Red Bull ahead of the second Alpine car of Franco Colapinto.
F1 Azerbaijan GP – FP3 results
We want to hear from you!
Let us know what you would like to see from us in the future.
Take our survey
– The Autosport.com Team
Read the full article here