Final practice for the 2024 Azerbaijan GP got underway with cloudy conditions and cooler temperatures over the Baku City Circuit compared to Friday’s running, after a bit of rain hit before the session.
Two-time Baku winner Sergio Perez was the first to go out on track, and reported it was a “bit damp” due to the earlier showers.
The first 15 minutes saw no significant action on track, as teams and drivers waited for conditions to improve and used the opportunity to scrub tyres with Sunday’s grand prix in mind.
As the cars came out for their first flying laps, the action quickly stopped after Esteban Ocon’s Alpine came to a halt in the middle of the fast sweepers of the final sector. The Frenchman immediately stopped his A524 after his car suffered from a seemingly engine-related issue. The incident brought out the first red flag of the day and interrupted the first set of flying laps of the session, costing teams and drivers some valuable track time.
The session restarted with 36 minutes remaining on the clock, as most drivers queued up at the end of the pit lane to take to the circuit straight away.
All drivers headed out on soft tyres for qualifying simulation runs. Oscar Piastri reported some “very light” rain drops, but McLaren dismissed any potential issue from it.
The Australian was the first to set a lap, with a 1:45.476 putting him briefly at the top, before he was beaten by both Ferrari and Red Bull cars, with Max Verstappen taking the top spot in the opening lap with a 1:45.209, just 0.069s ahead of Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari.
Williams then brought the challenge for the usual suspects, with a surprising 1-2 in the first flying laps, with Alex Albon leading Franco Colapinto in P2, and over eight tenths clear of Verstappen’s time.
Nico Hulkenberg then jumped to second, still over six tenths back from Albon, before Oscar Piastri took his spot in P2 with a second flying lap, two-thirds of a second back from the Thai driver.
The action came to a halt for the second time with 27 minutes remaining on the clock, as Oliver Bearman, in his first full race weekend for Haas, found the barriers down at turn 1. The British rookie called himself an “idiot” over the radio after missing the apex of the first corner, and bailing out too late, hitting the wall as he tried to head into the run-off area after his lock-up.
The crash ripped his front-left tyre and suspension apart, putting him automatically out of the session, and triggering the second red flag of the day.
The action restarted with 22 minutes remaining on the clock, and once again drivers queued up at the end of the pit lane in order to get on track as soon as possible – with Lando Norris leading that group, having had both his previous flying lap attempts interrupted by red flags, the Briton was keen to get on track and get a time on the board as the session reached its two-third mark already.
Norris finally put a lap on the board with 18 minutes of the session remaining, and went fastest overall, 0.145s ahead of Albon’s Williams, who then responded immediately and went significantly faster by over six tenths to reclaim P1, before being beaten by Leclerc’s Ferrari, who set a 1:43.455 to go fastest by nearly two tenths.
Carlos Sainz slotted into P3, nearly three-and-a-half tenths back from the Monegasque, with Lando Norris a further four tenths back in the McLaren.
Max Verstappen confirmed Red Bull’s strong form by going second fastest by just a tenth from Leclerc, before Sergio Perez further vindicated that pace by going fastest overall with a 1:43.399.
Track evolution continued to be a factor, as Oscar Piastri found over six tenths over Perez, and went fastest in the McLaren with a 1:42.749 as the session reached its final 13 minutes.
George Russell’s difficult weekend seemed to continue, as he reported over the radio some “funny noises” from his power unit under off-throttle sections. The three-time grand prix winner went wide in his next attempt at a flying lap, as he locked up going into turn two, but managed to keep going without major issues – but reported the “ride feels terrible under braking”.
Lewis Hamilton, who was looking very fast on Friday, continued his strong form on Saturday, going second fastest momentarily, just over half-a-second back from Piastri, before Charles Leclerc set a storming lap of a 1:42.564 to go quickest overall.
Russell finally put in a decent lap and went third fastest, just under five tenths back from Piastri.
Alex Albon continued to show strong form, going fifth fastest, just 0.63s back from the leading time – and receiving a round of applause from the Williams team in the process – with his team-mate Franco Colapinto going strong as well, just 0.044s back from the Thai driver.
Lando Norris went second fastest, just 0.173s back from Leclerc’s pace-setting time, and a mere 0.012s ahead of his team-mate Piastri.
Carlos Sainz had a scary moment approaching turn 15, as he found a slow Sergio Perez in the racing line and had to take avoiding action, the incident will be investigated after the session.
Despite the difficult weekend so far, George Russell found pace in his Mercedes late on, going fastest overall with a 1:42.514, five hundredths of a second clear of Leclerc’s earlier benchmark, before the Monegasque improved again but couldn’t topple the Mercedes, slotting in just 0.013s back.
Sergio Perez couldn’t respond and only managed seventh fastest, over half-a-second back from Russell, with Sainz just ahead in P6.
Verstappen improved his time in the dying moments of the session, with a bit of a tow from Perez getting him over the line in P5, just 0.348s back from Russell.
The final classified order of the top 10 after a fascinating final practice in Baku was as follows: Russell, Leclerc, Norris, Piastri. Verstappen, Sainz, Perez, Albon, Colapinto and Hamilton.
Rounding out the field were, respectively: Alonso, Tsunoda, Stroll, Ricciardo, Gasly, Hulkenberg, Bottas, Zhou, Ocon and Bearman.
