The third free practice in Baku started very slowly as most of the drivers remained in the pits and decided to go out only around 15 minutes into the session. However, that was exactly the time when Esteban Ocon had to stop on the track, due to technical issues with his Alpine and the first red flag interrupted the session.

The French driver had technical problems yesterday as well and it seems like Alpine is not able to figure out the cause.

After a bit more than half into the session, Oliver Bearman crashed in Turn 1 in the first FP3 flying lap and brought out the second red flag. The young driver missed the apex of the corner, decided to use the run-off zone too late, and damaged the left side of his Haas just a few hours before qualifying.

The session was overall a bit more careful as drivers didn’t want to risk damaging their cars before qualifying, which will take place later today.

However, there were still some moments as for example for Carlos Sainz, who got impended by Sergio Perez in Turn 15 and had to skip over the inside of the corner. The stewards will investigate this incident after the session with a possible penalty threat for the Red Bull driver.

George Russell set the fastest time just before the end of FP3 only 0.013s ahead of Charles Leclerc, who will aim for his fourth consecutive pole position in Baku later today.

The McLaren drivers finished third and fourth, with Lando Norris, who wasn’t really happy with his pace yesterday, just a bit faster than Oscar Piastri.

The reigning champion Max Verstappen ended the session in fifth place, followed by Carlos Sainz in sixth and Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez in seventh. 

It was a good session for strong-looking Williams, with Alex Albon finishing P8 and his rookie teammate Franco Colapinto just behind him in P9.

Lewis Hamilton completed the top ten of the last free practice session, where all four top teams looked strong and therefore, it is pretty impossible to predict how qualifying will look like.