2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP | FP3 results

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Max Verstappen set the fastest time in the final practice session (FP3) at the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP, denying George Russell a clean sweep of the practice sessions before Qualifying in Baku. Read full results below.

A slow start to the session

Pierre Gasly led the field out on medium tyres, and Alpine teammate Franco Colapinto soon joined him, with the team looking more competitive after a quiet FP1. Almost ten minutes passed before others followed. Arvid Lindblad returned to the track for the first time since his FP2 crash, Oliver Bearman used a scrubbed soft set after an engine issue cost him his FP2 running, and Williams continued to evaluate its major upgrade package, including a lighter chassis. Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren largely chose mediums.

Ferrari ran softs on both cars, and Lewis Hamilton went top with a 1:46.168 before Charles Leclerc, a four-time Baku polesitter, beat him by six tenths. As the track rubbered in, drivers cut their lap times, and Hamilton reclaimed the lead with a 1:45.093. Aston Martin suffered another setback when Lance Stroll clipped the wall and, suspecting a puncture, stopped on track because Baku’s long lap prevented him from limping back to the pits. Both Aston Martin drivers already face grid penalties for taking new power unit components. Elsewhere, Hamilton locked up and Verstappen ran into an escape road, while Russell moved to the top on mediums, beating Leclerc’s soft-tyre time by around 0.15 seconds.

Verstappen snatches top spot late on

Race control briefly deployed a Virtual Safety Car so a marshal could remove a branch from the track, but neither Mercedes driver lost a flying lap as both were still warming up their tyres. Once running resumed, Verstappen climbed to second, just 0.141s off Russell after brushing close to the barriers. Oscar Piastri brought McLaren into contention, while Leclerc, Lando Norris and Hamilton traded positions behind the leading Mercedes.

Russell kept pushing but locked up at Turn 7 and narrowly avoided the wall before reversing out undamaged and continuing. Verstappen then found the extra time he needed, setting a 1:43.922 to finish 0.099s clear of Russell. Hamilton took third, just 0.012s behind the Mercedes, with Kimi Antonelli fourth and Leclerc fifth. In the closing moments, Gasly jumped to sixth and Colapinto climbed into the top ten, but no one could match Verstappen, who denied Russell a practice sweep heading into Qualifying.