F1 Azerbaijan GP: Russell pips Leclerc by 0.013s to lead final practice

Mercedes' George Russell set the pace with a 1m42.514s, 0.013s clear of Charles Leclerc

George Russell shaded Charles Leclerc in FP3 for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as McLaren and Mercedes got on terms with Red Bull and Ferrari ahead of qualifying.

Leclerc had showed good progress throughout the session and managed to sit on top of the order after beating an impressive lap from Oscar Piastri later in the session, but the Ferrari driver's lap was beaten by Russell's late 1m42.514s effort.

Russell, whose running on Friday had been interrupted by a series of power unit grumbles, reported that his Mercedes powertrain sounded strange through the corners, and also struggled with the handling balance throughout much of the Saturday practice session.

But after moving ahead of Leclerc, Russell's lap managed to resist the Monegasque's follow-up 1m42.527s effort to lead the way heading into qualifying.

Early on, there were little more than a series of installation laps at the start of the session, with no flying laps completed in the opening 10 minutes as a few light drops of rain were in the air.

The session then looked to get into its stride but, as Lando Norris had prepared to begin a lap, the session came to a halt as Esteban Ocon's Alpine stopped on track just before the 15-minute mark.

This prompted a delay and, once the Alpine was cleared, the session resumed 10 minutes later. With the early laps among the 1m45s, the times were slower compared to Friday's FP2 session - on fresh soft tyres, Piastri set the benchmark with a 1m45.476.

Max Verstappen found a quarter of a second to move up top spot, but was succeeded by Alex Albon who immediately found a 1m44.371s to get on the pace off the bat.

Leclerc was tracking ahead of Albon during his second attempt, going almost 0.7s up in the opening sector and finding even more time in the second sector.

This effort was nipped in the bud by another red flag - Oliver Bearman went too deep into Turn 1 and attempted to bail out, but didn't do so quick enough and knocked his left front wheel against the Tecpro barrier.

A six-minute recovery operation ensured the session could resume with just over 20 minutes on the clock, allowing Norris to set a 1m44.226s to shuffle to the top of the order.

Albon returned the favour, setting a purple middle sector and gathering a tow from Russell to go fastest for all of about five seconds, as Leclerc put in the lap he'd expected prior to Bearman's shunt to set a 1m43.455s.

Sergio Perez collected a 1m43.389s to displace Leclerc from the top of the order, but this was firmly put in the shade by Oscar Piastri's 1m42.749s - a 0.64s advantage to the Australian.

Piastri's time came under threat from Perez and Lewis Hamilton, but Leclerc managed to overturn it by 0.185 seconds - before Russell moved to the top of the pile.

Leclerc remained ahead of the McLarens, as Lando Norris had found a 1m42.737s to get ahead of Piastri, while Verstappen's late attempt at a tow from Perez could not move him above fifth. Carlos Sainz split the Red Bulls, having been heavily baulked by Perez at Turn 15 during the final 10 minutes.

Albon and Franco Colapinto remained in touching distance, as Lewis Hamilton completed the top 10.

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	G. Russell Mercedes	63	Mercedes	Mercedes	15	1'42.514		210.808
2	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	Ferrari	Ferrari	17	+0.013 1'42.527	0.013	210.781
3	L. Norris McLaren	4	McLaren	Mercedes	15	+0.223 1'42.737	0.210	210.350
4	O. Piastri McLaren	81	McLaren	Mercedes	14	+0.235 1'42.749	0.012	210.326
5	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1	Red Bull	Red Bull	16	+0.348 1'42.862	0.113	210.095
6	C. Sainz Ferrari	55	Ferrari	Ferrari	17	+0.454 1'42.968	0.106	209.878
7	S. Perez Red Bull Racing	11	Red Bull	Red Bull	16	+0.510 1'43.024	0.056	209.764
8	A. Albon Williams	23	Williams	Mercedes	14	+0.680 1'43.194	0.170	209.419
9	F. Colapinto Williams	43	Williams	Mercedes	15	+0.724 1'43.238	0.044	209.329
10	L. Hamilton Mercedes	44	Mercedes	Mercedes	13	+0.787 1'43.301	0.063	209.202
11	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14	Aston Martin	Mercedes	15	+0.960 1'43.474	0.173	208.852
12	Y. Tsunoda RB	22	RB	Red Bull	17	+0.989 1'43.503	0.029	208.793
13	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18	Aston Martin	Mercedes	19	+1.057 1'43.571	0.068	208.656
14	D. Ricciardo RB	3	RB	Red Bull	18	+1.356 1'43.870	0.299	208.056
15	P. Gasly Alpine	10	Alpine	Renault	15	+1.362 1'43.876	0.006	208.044
16	N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team	27	Haas	Ferrari	13	+1.650 1'44.164	0.288	207.468
17	V. Bottas Sauber	77	Sauber	Ferrari	18	+1.673 1'44.187	0.023	207.423
18	Z. Guanyu Sauber	24	Sauber	Ferrari	20	+2.355 1'44.869	0.682	206.074
19	E. Ocon Alpine	31	Alpine	Renault	1
20	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	50	Haas	Ferrari	2
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