George Russell finished first in the third practice session of the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc in second and Lando Norris in third.
The 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 3rd practice session began under cloudy weather conditions. Early in the session, Verstappen and Perez took to the track on soft tires, but due to the track not being completely dry from earlier rain, they returned to the pits without setting fast laps. After 15 minutes, no fast lap times had been recorded, and a red flag was waved when Esteban Ocon’s car stopped on track, and the French driver couldn’t return it to the pits on his own.
Ocon’s car was cleared from the track within about 10 minutes, and the session resumed.
Oscar Piastri reported light rain over the radio, but his engineer informed him that the rain wasn’t affecting track conditions.
The first fast lap came from Piastri with a time of 1:45.476, followed by Hamilton at 1:45.616. Verstappen then set the fastest time of 1:45.209, moving into the lead.
After most drivers completed their initial laps, Albon, Colapinto, Verstappen, Sainz, and Perez made up the top five.
With 27 minutes remaining, Oliver Bearman crashed into the barriers at Turn 1, damaging his car and causing another red flag.
The track was cleared within about five minutes, and the session restarted.
With 18 minutes left, Lando Norris, who struggled to set desired laps the previous day, took the lead from Albon with a time of 1:44.226. Albon and Leclerc then took turns at the top, with the session’s first sub-1:44 lap times being recorded.
Verstappen followed Leclerc closely on his fast lap, placing second, while Sergio Perez took the lead with a lap of 1:43.389.
Oscar Piastri then set purple sectors across the board and went 0.640 seconds faster than Perez, breaking into the 1:42 range with a time of 1:42.749.
With seven minutes left, Charles Leclerc claimed the lead with a 1:42.564 lap.
At the same time, another blocking incident between Sainz and Perez, similar to the one yesterday, occurred, and race control announced it would be investigated after the session.
With two minutes remaining, George Russell took the lead from Leclerc by just 0.050 seconds.
In the final laps, no one was able to beat Russell’s time, and George Russell finished the third practice session in first place.
Leclerc, Norris, Piastri, Verstappen, Sainz, Perez, Albon, Colapinto, and Hamilton rounded out the top 10.
Session Results:
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | G. Russell | Mercedes | 15 | 1’42.514 | – |
| 2 | C. Leclerc | Ferrari | 17 | 1’42.527 | +0.013 |
| 3 | L. Norris | McLaren | 15 | 1’42.737 | +0.223 |
| 4 | O. Piastri | McLaren | 14 | 1’42.749 | +0.235 |
| 5 | M. Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 16 | 1’42.862 | +0.348 |
| 6 | C. Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 17 | 1’42.968 | +0.454 |
| 7 | S. Perez | Red Bull Racing | 16 | 1’43.024 | +0.510 |
| 8 | A. Albon | Williams | 14 | 1’43.194 | +0.680 |
| 9 | F. Colapinto | Williams | 15 | 1’43.238 | +0.724 |
| 10 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 13 | 1’43.301 | +0.787 |
| 11 | F. Alonso | Aston Martin Racing | 15 | 1’43.474 | +0.960 |
| 12 | Y. Tsunoda | RB F1 Team | 17 | 1’43.503 | +0.989 |
| 13 | L. Stroll | Aston Martin Racing | 19 | 1’43.571 | +1.057 |
| 14 | D. Ricciardo | RB F1 Team | 18 | 1’43.870 | +1.356 |
| 15 | P. Gasly | Alpine | 15 | 1’43.876 | +1.362 |
| 16 | N. Hulkenberg | Haas F1 Team | 13 | 1’44.164 | +1.650 |
| 17 | V. Bottas | Sauber | 18 | 1’44.187 | +1.673 |
| 18 | G. Zhou | Sauber | 20 | 1’44.869 | +2.355 |
| 19 | E. Ocon | Alpine | 1 | – | – |
| 20 | O. Bearman | Haas F1 Team | 2 | – | – |
