Max Verstappen was fastest in third practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix; the Red Bull driver set a 43.922, just under a tenth faster than George Russell. The Dutchman took control and used the slipstream to move himself to the top of the times and ahead of the Mercedes.
Though conditions were warmer than they will be for qualifying this afternoon, the Dutchman showed decent pace when the front teams started setting their fastest qualifying simulations. However, Verstappen wasn’t entirely happy, complaining that his Red Bull was “jumping like a kangaroo” before going deep into the Turn Fifteen runoff, one of several drivers to make good use of Baku’s escape roads.
Many will expect that in qualifying Red Bull will not be a serious threat for pole given the power of the slipstream and wind being in the right direction.
Lewis Hamilton put his Ferrari third, splitting the two Mercedes; he was almost a tenth and a half behind Russell and nearly a quarter of a second ahead of Kimi Antonelli. Charles Leclerc was around a further quarter of a tenth off.
Many drivers used the session as a chance to practice the slipstream along the long, effective straight, which makes up the majority of the final sector. While the autumn sunshine shone down on the streets of Baku, some drivers appeared to be caught out by the gusts from the Caspian Sea, but most avoided contact with the barriers.
Pierre Gasly put his Alpine a tenth faster than both McLarens, which should be no real surprise as he showed surprisingly strong pace and took pole two races ago at Monza. Oscar Piastri put himself over a quarter of a second faster than teammate Lando Norris.
Isack Hadjar put his Red Bull ninth, going just over four tenths faster than Franco Colapinto to complete the top ten. Carlos Sainz missed out by just over a hundredth, the Williams nine hundredths ahead of Ollie Bearman. The Haas duo were split by Gabriel Bortoleto, the Audi driver a tenth and a half off the Englishman and six and a half hundredths faster than Esteban Ocon.
Bortoletto’s teammate Nico Hulkenberg was six thousandths faster than Sergio Perez while the Cadillac went three-quarters of a tenth faster than Alex Albon. The Racing Bulls followed with Liam Lawson half a tenth faster than teammate Arvid Lindblad.
The Aston Martins were split by Valtteri Bottas, the Finn two seconds behind Fernando Alonso and almost seven tenths faster than Lance Stroll.
The cut-off for Q3 would have been a 45.590, meaning Sainz would have missed out by nine hundredths, and Q1 was a 46.076 with Perez missing out by three quarters of a tenth.
