Mercedes’ George Russell went quickest in the final practice session ahead of qualifying for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by just 0.013s, with McLaren’s Lando Norris two tenths of a second further back in third as championship leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull finished fifth.
Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Pérez were first out on track at the start of the session, but after a single lap on Soft tyres both Red Bull drivers returned to the pit lane. A second group of drivers then emerged to also put in installation laps but as the first quarter of the session evolved, no times were set.
Soon after the 15-minute teams began to send their drivers out for full runs, but almost immediately the track action was halted when Esteban Ocon’s Alpine ground to a halt between Turns 17 and 18 and the red flags came out.
After a 10-minute delay the session resumed and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri set the pace at 1:45.476. Verstappen then moved up to top spot, before being shuffled back by Williams’ Alex Albon who lowered the benchmark to 1:44.371.
Leclerc was on course to eclipse that time but as he neared the end of his next flying lap the red flags were waved again, this time for Haas rookie Oliver Bearman, in for the suspended Kevin Magnussen, who crashed at Turn 1.
The Briton carried too much speed into the corner, and though he attempted to bail out of the entry he succeeded only in steering his car into the barriers in the escape road, breaking the front left suspension.
The session resumed after a six-minute delay, and McLaren’s Lando Norris vaulted straight to the top of the order with a lap of 1:44.226. Albon, Leclerc and Pérez all then took turns in P1 before Piastri moved well clear of them all with a lap of 1:42.749.
Pérez and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton edged close to the Australian’s time, but it was Leclerc who eventually managed to clear the hurdle, with the Ferrari driver moving 0.185 seconds clear.
It looked like that might be the ultimate benchmark for the session, but in the final minute Russell scraped past with his session-best time of 1:42.514.
Leclerc kept hold of P2 with Norris moving ahead of Piatri late on and Verstappen was left with P5, 0.348 off the pace. Sainz split the Red Bulls, with Pérez seventh ahead of the Williams pair of Albon and Franco Colapinto. The top 10 order was completed by Hamilton.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Free Practice 3
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:42.514 15 210.808
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:42.527 0.013 17 210.781
3 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:42.737 0.223 15 210.350
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:42.749 0.235 14 210.326
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:42.862 0.348 16 210.095
6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:42.968 0.454 17 209.878
7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:43.024 0.510 16 209.764
8 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:43.194 0.680 14 209.419
9 Franco Colapinto Williams/Mercedes 1:43.238 0.724 15 209.329
10 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:43.301 0.787 13 209.202
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:43.474 0.960 15 208.852
12 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:43.503 0.989 17 208.793
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:43.571 1.057 19 208.656
14 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:43.870 1.356 18 208.056
15 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:43.876 1.362 15 208.044
16 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:44.164 1.650 13 207.468
17 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:44.187 1.673 18 207.423
18 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:44.869 2.355 20 206.074
19 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault – 1
20 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari – 2
