Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has surprisingly topped third and final practice for Formula 1’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, pipping Mercedes driver George Russell and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton on Baku’s tricky street circuit.
Verstappen took command at the very end of the one-hour session as teams switched to qualifying runs, defying Mercedes’ favourite status in Baku by catching a big slipstream to go fastest.
FP3, held in less representative conditions than qualifying later on Friday afternoon, got off to a quiet start, with the Alpines leading the early running some way off Thursday’s FP2 pace. The big-hitters started f
