Lando Norris was fastest in third practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix; the McLaren driver set a 41.299, putting himself just under two and a quarter tenths faster than Max Verstappen. The Red Bull driver managed to split the two McLarens after he went three hundredths faster than Oscar Piastri.
After what he admitted was a “costly” mistake in FP2 which saw him damage his McLaren against the wall and miss the second half of the session, Norris was in fine form on his return to action around the challenging Baku City Circuit as he outpaced his nearest rivals by two tenths of a second.
Going into qualifying, it appears to be a three-team battle for pole in qualifying as Lewis Hamilton was just over two hundredths further behind. Hamilton has been looking to be in the best form of the season and Ferrari looks to be a genuine challenger for pole, as he topped FP2 on Friday. The top four were covered by just under three tenths, which is expected to close in qualifying.
However, many struggled with the gusty early autumn conditions as a crosswind blew in from the Caspian Sea through the streets of Baku; this resulted in several drivers running wide, but many kept the cars out of the walls throughout the session. Adding to the challenge was the heavy rain overnight, which had washed away most of the rubber, and many drivers however, appeared to be saving medium tyres, which is the C5 second softest in the Pirelli range, as the C6 has been problematic.
Mercedes appears also in the hunt, Kimi Antonelli going fifth nearly nine hundredths ahead of George Russell, the Englishman struggling with illness this weekend. The top six were covered by just over three-quarters of a second, though Mercedes were slightly further behind compared to FP2.
Russell rued set-up changes that made him “lock up at every corner” as he claimed eighth, eight-tenths behind Norris. Alex Albon put his Williams seventh, going two thousandths faster than Ollie Bearman, with Liam Lawson and Charles Leclerc completing the top ten, six hundredths behind Lawson.
Lawson, surviving a full spin at Azneft Square (Turn Sixteen), but avoided hitting the barriers, was ninth ahead of Leclerc, who did not complete a truly representative final soft-tyre attempt.
The top ten were covered by just under a second, with Isack Hadjar missing out by six hundredths in his Racing Bull. This suggests that qualifying will again be close in Baku, and the added challenges of a high-speed street circuit could create surprises and teams will need to be on the ball given the higher probably of yellow and red flags.
Isack Hadjar was eleventh as he missed out on the top teen by six hundredths, the Racing Bull going over a tenth and a half faster than Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz. Sainz was a tenth faster than Fernando Alonso, Franco Colapinto, Yuki Tsunoda.
Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto, Pierre Gasly’s Alpine and Lance Stroll completed the order ahead of Qualifying later today.
