George Russell put Mercedes at the top of the times for the final practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, just ahead of Charles Leclerc.
Russell’s best time of 1’42.514 was just 0.013s quicker than the Ferrari drivers with the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri behind them.
Haas rookie Oliver Bearman’s session ended early on as he crashed out of the session in the barriers at turn one on his first flying lap of the day.
It was a very slow start to the final hour of practice ahead of qualifying. Only a handful of drivers took to the track when practice begin, including the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, to scrub a set of soft tyres. Perez reported that the track was slightly damp, with small drops of rain visible on his visor.
Before any driver had completed a representative time, the session was stopped by a red flag when Esteban Ocon was forced to stop his Alpine on track at the exit of turn 16 with an apparent ERS problem. It was the second major technical problem Ocon has experienced over the three practice sessions.
When the session resumed, Oscar Piastri reported “very light drops” of rain, but it was not enough to significantly affect grip on the circuit. Verstappen went fastest of all after the first runs for the top teams, before Alexander Albon blitzed Verstappen’s time by eight tenths of a second to to fastest for Williams.
Bearman’s solid start to his second grand prix weekend hit a snag when he made a mistake under braking for the first corner on his first flying lap. Although he tried to bail out into the escape road, Bearman was unable to avoid barrier and broke his left-front suspension, bringing out the red flags for the second time.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Drivers had the luxury of an uninterrupted final 20 minutes of practice, with most drivers finding improvements on their best times. Despite complaining about an uncomfortable feeling with his power unit, Russell was able to post the best time of the weekend with a 1’42.514.
At the end of the session, Leclerc was closest to the Mercedes, by just 0.013s. However, the Ferrari driver was unhappy with his best lap, despite being quicker than both McLarens of Norris and Piastri behind. Verstappen was fifth-fastest, three tenths slower than Russell, after appearing to attempt a dress rehearsal of a slipstream from team mate Perez for qualifying at the end of the session.
Carlos Sainz Jnr and Perez were…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at RaceFans…