Practice report
Formula 1 Azerbaijan GP
F1 Azerbaijan GP: Max Verstappen leads George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in final practice
Max Verstappen leads George Russell and Lewis Hamilton into qualifying at Formula 1's Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Filip Cleeren
Edited: Sep 25, 2026, 1:19 PM
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Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
Red Bull's Max Verstappen surprisingly took the fastest time in third and final practice for F1's Azerbaijan GP, pipping Mercedes driver George Russell and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton on Baku's tricky street circuit.
Verstappen took command at the very end of the one-hour session as teams switched to qualifying runs, defying Mercedes' favourite status in Baku by catching a big slipstream to go fastest.
FP3, held in less representative conditions than qualifying later on Friday afternoon, got off to a quiet start, with the Alpines leading the early running some way off Thursday's FP2 pace. The big-hitters started flexing their collective muscle 15 minutes into the session with Charles Leclerc's second attempt on softs - yielding a 1m45.564s - demoting Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton's effort.
As drivers tried to hone their slipstreaming timing for qualifying, with the Baku City Circuit's giant 2km straight making a tow a crucial element of a competitive lap, Red Bull's Verstappen lunged to first place only to be deposed by Hamilton's 1m45.093s.
Conditions appeared to be gustier than on Friday as race control deployed a brief virtual safety car for a tree branch which was swept onto the track. The wind also made cars less predictable to drive. Verstappen reported a Red Bull that was "jumping like a kangaroo" before going deep into the Turn 15 runoff, one of several drivers to make good use of Baku's escape roads.
Aston Martin's Lance Stroll was not so lucky as he tagged the wall in Turn 1, which prompted the Canadian to park the car.
Mercedes, which was ominously quick on Friday, started mixing it up at the halfway mark with Antonelli pipping Leclerc by half a tenth courtesy of a 1m45.046s lap, before Russell claimed top spot with a 1m44.715s lap - both on medium tyres rather than softs.
George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
The Silver Arrows then showed their hands on the softest tyre compound as Russell put down a 1m44.177s marker with 15 minutes to go. As Russell shaved off some time with his subsequent 1m44.021s tour, Antonelli conceded 0.252s to his team-mate.
Verstappen benefitted from a huge slipstream to split the Mercedes cars in second, flattering the real performance of the Red Bull on a weekend set to be dominated by the championship leaders, and the Dutchman ultimately set a 1m43.922s lap to top the session.
Russell could likely have gone quicker still, however, but locked up the fronts into Turn 1 before going straight on in Turn 7, managing to bring the car to a halt without tapping the wall.
With a last-minute effort Hamilton pipped Antonelli to third, followed by Leclerc and Alpine's Pierre Gasly. McLaren's low-profile weekend continued with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in seventh and eighth despite the team's upgrades to improve its low-speed cornering.
The returning Isack Hadjar claimed ninth for Red Bull ahead of the second Alpine car of Franco Colapinto.
F1 Azerbaijan GP FP3 Results
All Stats
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Laps Time Interval Tyres km/h 1 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 3
Red Bull Red Bull 21
1'43.922
S 207.952 2 G. Russell Mercedes 63
Mercedes Mercedes 21
+0.099
1'44.021
0.099 S 207.754 3 L. Hamilton Ferrari 44
Ferrari Ferrari 18
+0.111
1'44.033
0.012 S 207.730 4
A. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes
12 
Mercedes Mercedes 21
+0.351
1'44.273
0.240 S 207.252 5 C. Leclerc Ferrari 16
Ferrari Ferrari 22
+0.622
1'44.544
0.271 S 206.714 6 P. Gasly Alpine 10
Alpine Mercedes 20
+0.715
1'44.637
0.093 S 206.531 7 O. Piastri McLaren 81
McLaren Mercedes 20
+0.824
1'44.746
0.109 S 206.316 8 L. Norris McLaren 1
McLaren Mercedes 20
+0.977
1'44.899
0.153 S 206.015 9 I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing 6
Red Bull Red Bull 22
+1.254
1'45.176
0.277 S 205.472 10 F. Colapinto Alpine 43
Alpine Mercedes 20
+1.670
1'45.592
0.416 S 204.663 11 C. Sainz Williams 55
Williams Mercedes 24
+1.683
1'45.605
0.013 S 204.638 12 O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87
Haas Ferrari 25
+1.770
1'45.692
0.087 S 204.469 13 G. Bortoleto Audi 5
Audi Audi 18
+1.932
1'45.854
0.162 S 204.156 14 E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31
Haas Ferrari 21
+1.996
1'45.918
0.064 S 204.033 15 N. Hulkenberg Audi 27
Audi Audi 18
+2.076
1'45.998
0.080 S 203.879 16 S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team 11
Cadillac Ferrari 19
+2.082
1'46.004
0.006 S 203.867 17 A. Albon Williams 23
Williams Mercedes 24
+2.154
1'46.076
0.072 S 203.729 18 L. Lawson Racing Bulls 30
RB Red Bull 23
+2.300
1'46.222
0.146 S 203.449 19 A. Lindblad Racing Bulls 41
RB Red Bull 22
+2.349
1'46.271
0.049 S 203.355 20 F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14
Aston Martin Honda 19
+2.590
1'46.512
0.241 S 202.895 21 V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team 77
Cadillac Ferrari 19
+4.665
1'48.587
2.075 S 199.018 22 L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18
Aston Martin Honda 9
+5.357
1'49.279
0.692 S 197.758 View full results
Photos from F1 Azerbaijan GP - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday
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