Azerbaijan GP FP3: Russell tops, qualifying will be interesting
F1 NewsSaturday, 14 September 2024 at 11:35
George Russell went fastest in the final practice session for the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix setting the stage for an interesting qualifying.
It will be a four-way fight for pole with Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren, and Ferrari all showing good pace, each having an advantage at certain sectors of the track and weaknesses at others.
Mercedes and Ferrari power units seemed to be doing the business in the final sector, which is where Red Bull are struggling apparently carrying more downforce than others, evident from their strong middle sector.
However it is worth noting that the order in which the session ended may be a bit skewed as the best times were all about doing a lap time as late as possible when the grip was at its best, after rain earlier in the day meant grip levels changes again.
In the end Russell put in the best lap to go fastest, marginally faster than Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari, with Lando Norris a bit more behind in third.
Oscar Piastri was fourth fastest ahead of defending Formula 1 Champion Max Verstappen who was only fifth, as Red Bull seem to have some work to do compared to their rivals, but do not rule out the Dutchman who may make the difference.
Next up was Carlos Sainz in sixth, ahead of Sergio Perez, seventh in the other Red Bull, and also in the mix, as his lap time was set earlier to the others.
Red Bull may need to resort to some team orders in terms of Verstappen getting a tow from his teammate come Q3 as the fight with McLaren and Norris intensifies.
It was a impressive showing from Williams, Alex Albon eighth and Franco Colapinto a fine ninth as Lewis Hamilton rounded off the top ten.
Buildup towards FP3
Friday in Baku was a bit messy with crashes, off-track moments, as the drivers tried to put some rubber down on the green track, the dust not helping their cause.
Red Bull did not seem as bad, as their revised floor seemed to work well after they ran back-to-back tests on both their cars.
Ferrari apparently have the speed, but their day was compromised by Leclerc's crash. Nevertheless he was fastest in the afternoon.
Mercedes seem to be in it up to now, but they usually are and then fade in qualifying and the race, so interesting to see how they progress.
McLaren, on the other hand did not show their hand, Norris claiming he was not able to extract lap time from his MCL38, admitting he had to push hard.
FP3 will give us a closer picture, but rain ahead of the session, meant grip levels changed again.
FP3 Session highlights
The session started in dry conditions despite rain hitting the track in the morning. Temperature were down compared to Friday's FP1 and FP2, while the wind seemed to have picked up.
Perez who seemed in good shape on Friday led the way out of the pits, followed by Verstappen as the Saubers of Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas followed.
"It is a little bit damp," was the initial feedback from Perez to the Red Bull pit wall.
There wasn't much action on track, that is until Esteban Ocon's Alpine decided to call it a day and stopped on track brining out the Red flag.
It was another hit for Ocon who also suffered from engine trouble on Friday.
The session was restarted with almost 35 minutes remaining.
The drivers were back out on track with Soft tyres on to do some qualifying runs.
Verstappen seemed to be pushing hard and went within a centimeter to the wall at Turn 15. That is how you get a fast lap around Baku.
But Piastri reported some light drops of rain.
With less than 25 minutes remaining, Oliver Bearman brought out the second Red flag of the session, having gone deep into Turn 1, and was too late bailing out and hit the barrier as he attempted to go into the run-off area damaging the from left suspension and the front wing.
Bearman's stricken Haas was cleared fairly quickly and the session was soon underway again, with a little over 20 minutes remaining on the clock.
Verstappen remained in the garage as the Red Bull mechanics seemed to be working on the front of his RB20, the suspension in particular.
Hamilton brought out a brief Yellow flag, having gone deep into Turn 3 and into the run-off area while Colapinto had a moment at Turn 4 but managed to avoid the wall.
The track kept evolving and the lap times dropping as several drivers took turn at P1, with Albon in the Williams impressively punching above his weight.
Less than 15 minutes from the end, Russell asked his team to check his power unit that felt and sounded funny. He soon brings out a brief Yellow flag going into the run-off area at Turn 2.
Then Pierre Gasly brings out the Yellow flag in sector one, going into the run-off area at Turn 3.
The drivers then bolted on new sets of Soft tyres for another qualifying run as the track rubbered up even more and the times continued to improve.
Replay showed Sainz having a close encounter with Perez and had to go off the track the avoid the Red Bull.
How they finished
Russell clocked a fastest lap of 1:42.514, 0.013s ahead of Leclerc in second, while Norris was 0.210s further down the road in third.
Piastri was 0.012s behind his teammate in fourth and 0.113s ahead of Verstappen who was fifth in the Red Bull.
Sainz was 0.454s off the pace in sixth and 0.056s faster than Perez who was seventh fastest in the #11 RB20 and 0.170s ahead of the impressive Albon who was eighth.
Colapinto was ninth fastest, only 0.044s behind his highly-rated teammate and 0.063s ahead of seven-time F1 Champion Hamilton in tenth.
Azerbaijan GP FP3 Classification
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