Verstappen snatches FP3 top spot from Mercedes to lead Russell and Hamilton in Baku

Max Verstappen topped the timesheets in final practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Friday, clocking a 1m43.922s lap to pip Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton on the Baku City Circuit.

The Red Bull driver’s advantage owed much to a well-timed slipstream on the circuit’s 2km main straight, which he caught late in the session as teams switched to qualifying simulation runs. Russell, who had led for much of the hour, locked up into Turn 1 and went straight on at Turn 7 on his final effort — a mistake that likely cost him top spot.

FP3 was held in gustier conditions than Thursday’s second practice, with race control briefly deploying a virtual safety car after a tree branch was swept onto the circuit. The wind made cars unpredictable throughout, and Verstappen himself reported his Red Bull was “jumping like a kangaroo” before running deep into the Turn 15 runoff.

Mercedes had shown genuine pace from the midpoint of the session. Kimi Antonelli edged Charles Leclerc by half a tenth on medium tyres before Russell claimed top spot with a 1m44.715s, also on mediums. Russell then improved to a 1m44.021s on softs, with Antonelli 0.252s adrift in fourth.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll had a session to forget, tagging the wall at Turn 1 and parking his car shortly after.

Hamilton’s late push on softs was enough to split the two Mercedes drivers, with the Ferrari man finishing third ahead of Antonelli and Leclerc. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the top six.

Verstappen’s effort flattered Red Bull’s underlying pace on a weekend widely expected to suit Mercedes, and qualifying later on Friday will provide a clearer picture of the genuine order on the streets of Baku.