Verstappen tops final Azerbaijan GP practice as Russell and Hamilton follow

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

Max Verstappen set the fastest time in Free Practice 3 for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Friday in Baku, finishing quickest ahead of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. The Red Bull driver posted a 1m 43.922s, one tenth of a second clear of Russell and Hamilton in a final practice session held ahead of qualifying.

Verstappen’s run came after a cautious start to FP3, with the track surface affected by high winds that left dust and leaves across the circuit. The leading contenders only began appearing consistently around the 20-minute mark on the soft Pirelli tyre, with Hamilton initially going quickest at 1m 46.168s before Charles Leclerc improved to 1m 45.564s on his second attempt.

Kimi Antonelli and Russell took third and fourth on their first flying laps, but both Mercedes drivers began the session on the medium tyre. Verstappen briefly moved to the top with help from a double slipstream in the final sector, while Hamilton later lowered the benchmark to 1m 45.093s near halfway through the hour.

As the session progressed, times continued to drop. Russell went to 1m 44.715s and Hamilton, Antonelli and Verstappen all found the run-off areas at Turns 1, 4 and 15 at different points while pushing toward qualifying. Lance Stroll’s session ended early after he glanced the inside wall at Turn 1, damaging the wheel on his Aston Martin before pulling off behind the barrier.

With just over 15 minutes remaining, both Mercedes drivers switched to the soft tyre. Russell set 1m 44.177s and then improved to 1m 44.021s, but Verstappen ultimately brushed the walls several times on his flying lap and still produced a 1m 43.922s in the final minutes to take FP3 by the chequered flag.

Leclerc was best of the rest in fifth, ahead of Pierre Gasly, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Isack Hadjar and Franco Colapinto completed the top 10. Carlos Sainz finished P11, followed by Ollie Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg. The classification continued with Sergio Perez, Alex Albon, Liam Lawson, Arvid Lindblad, Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas and Stroll.