Charles Leclerc kept his nose ahead in a Ferrari 1-2 in the third practice session of F1 Azerbaijan GP with Sebastian Vettel in second and Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen third.
After the dramas on Friday, the F1 Azerbaijan GP FP3 session was a more sedate one with the teams and drivers taking it cautiously to prepare for qualifying and the race. Ferrari though kept the momentum from FP2 with Charles Leclerc ending quickest.
The Monegasque clocked a 1m41.604s with Sebastian Vettel ending up second with a 1m41.802s time as the Italian manufacturer duo beat Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen (1m42.852s), who had a better run than both the Mercedes drivers.
It was Valtteri Bottas (1m43.064s) ahead of Lewis Hamilton (1m43.064s) as Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat (1m43.223s) remained as the best of the rest in sixth ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (1m43.294s), who set a late quick lap to be seventh.
As seen on Friday, Toro Rosso secured a Top 10 finish with both the drivers with Alexander Albon (1m43.300s) slotting in eighth as Racing Point’s Sergio Perez popped in a surprise ninth late in the day to push another late improve Kimi Raikkonen in the Alfa Romeo car.
The Mexican lapped a 1m43.430s to the Finn’s 1m43.537s as Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m43.561s) just missed out on a Top 10 to be 11th ahead of the second Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi (1m43.637s), with the Italian showing some pace.
The McLaren duo were 13th and 14th with Lando Norris (1m43.924s) ahead of Carlos Sainz (1m43.978s) as Racing Point’s Lance Stroll (1m44.0.39s) slotted in 15th behind. Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg could only managed 16th with Haas’ Romain Grosjean 17th.
The German set a 1m44.043s which was only 0.004s aloof from Stroll, while the Frenchman clocked a 1m44.374s. Williams’ Robert Kubica finished 18th ahead of George Russell with Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly in 20th.
The Frenchman did not opt for a quick lap as he set a 1m47.836s as he is to start from the pitlane. The Williams pair, meanwhile, were still quite far away with Kubica only setting a 1m46.000s and Russell a 1m46.290s.
