Everything you need to know about Baku F1 final practice

Red Bull Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez set the pace in the third and final practice of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend at the Baku street circuit.

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Key moments:

> Delayed start will impact qualifying
> Perez seven hundredths clear of Leclerc
> Verstappen’s best lap thwarted by Alonso
> McLaren best of the rest with both cars
> Hamilton only 12th with turned down engine

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The start of the session had been delayed by 15 minutes due to barrier repairs following an eventful conclusion to the day’s Formula 2 race.

And with the regulations mandating a two-hour gap between the chequered flag flying in FP3 and the start of qualifying, it means the latter will likewise start 15 minutes later than scheduled.

Friday pacesetter Charles Leclerc was a tenth up on Verstappen after the initial runs in FP3, and was first of the frontrunners to improve once swapping to a fresh set of softs, recording the best time of the weekend at that point.

Yet despite the two Red Bulls then having their first soft-tyre attempts ruined by yellow flags for Valtteri Bottas’s Alfa Romeo reversing in the Turn 3 run-off, Perez gathered himself to still go clear of Leclerc by a tenth – with the Monegasque’s attempt to strike back ending with a visit to the Turn 15 run-off.

He had another go at it and again wasn’t able to improve, but his second place was preserved by Verstappen catching traffic in the form for Fernando Alonso’s Alpine on his final push lap.

It's getting busy out there! 😬#AzerbaijanGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/IWob5WQcCi

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 11, 2022

Verstappen therefore settled for being third, just under three tenths behind his team-mate, with the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz another tenth and a half off in fourth.

The two McLarens made up the top six, Lando Norris half a tenth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo but over a second down on pacesetter Perez.

Pierre Gasly spent much of the session in fifth courtesy of an early hard-tyre lap – when most were running softs – but didn’t improve enough on the red-walled rubber to retain the spot.

The AlphaTauri man settled for seventh, one place ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell – who himself was four places up on team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Both Russell and Hamilton complained of a lack of rear-end grip from their W13s at various points in the session, while Hamilton was also told his engine was running in a lower power mode for reasons of power unit lifespan.

A tow-aided Alonso was fastest of all in the final sector but only 11th overall, two places down on Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon – with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel slotting in between them.

Practice 3 Results