Max in P4 after final free practice in Baku
Published on 28 April 2018 by Raymond Snip
Max Verstappen closed out the final free practice in the capital of Azerbaijan in fourth place. On the street circuit in Baku, Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time in his Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton, in his Mercedes, finished second in this session, followed by the second Ferrari in the hands of Kimi Raikkonen.
At the start of the third free practice session it is cloudy and with an air temperature of 24°C it’s nice and warm in Baku. When the lights go green, it is Fernando Alonso who appears first on track. His team mate, both Saubers, and both Haas cars follow shortly. There are a few raindrops at the back of the track, Kevin Magnussen is told through his onboard radio.
After five minutes both Aston Martin Red Bull Racing cars appear on track. Both are on a set of ultra-soft tyres. Daniel Ricciardo is the first driver to set a timed lap. Moments later we see both Ferrari's and Max beat his lap time. Lap times are clearly lagging behind compared to the fastest times from Friday.
30 minutes into the session, Max is in P3, behind the Ferraris of Vettel and Raikkonen. Many drivers have problems with turn sixteen and go wide. The wind obviously is a key player here.
With a little over twenty minutes on the clock, Max goes out for a longer run on a set of used ultra-soft tyres. At this time, the goal is not to set fast times. Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez manage to pass the Dutchman, dropping him to P6.
In the final phase, Sergey Sirotkin in his Williams, crashes into the wall in turn 3, causing a red flag and pause the session. The Russian apologizes on the onboard radio and causes the entire field to return to the pits. With three minutes left on the clock, the track is released and everyone buckles up for a final run.
By overtaking Alonso in his out-lap, the young Dutchman has a open track ahead of him. He manages to climb to P4 with a little over four tenths off of fastest man Vettel.
Results third free practice Azerbaijan:
| pos | driver | team | time | gap | laps | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | VET | Ferrari | 1:43.091 | 17 | |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | HAM | Mercedes | 1:43.452 | +0.361s | 16 |
| 3 | Kimi Räikkönen | RAI | Ferrari | 1:43.493 | +0.402s | 17 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | VER | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | 1:43.519 | +0.428s | 17 |
| 5 | Valtteri Bottas | BOT | Mercedes | 1:43.569 | +0.478s | 20 |
| 6 | Sergio Perez | PER | Force India Mercedes | 1:43.936 | +0.845s | 9 |
| 7 | Kevin Magnussen | MAG | Haas Ferrari | 1:43.958 | +0.867s | 11 |
| 8 | Lance Stroll | STR | Williams Mercedes | 1:44.123 | +1.032s | 8 |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon | OCO | Force India Mercedes | 1:44.220 | +1.129s | 11 |
| 10 | Sergey Sirotkin | SIR | Williams Mercedes | 1:44.534 | +1.443s | 9 |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso | ALO | McLaren Renault | 1:44.763 | +1.672s | 12 |
| 12 | Daniel Ricciardo | RIC | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | 1:44.861 | +1.770s | 17 |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | GAS | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 1:44.905 | +1.814s | 16 |
| 14 | Charles Leclerc | LEC | Sauber Ferrari | 1:45.218 | +2.127s | 15 |
| 15 | Romain Grosjean | GRO | Haas Ferrari | 1:45.261 | +2.170s | 12 |
| 16 | Carlos Sainz | SAI | Renault | 1:45.432 | +2.341s | 15 |
| 17 | Nico Hulkenberg | HUL | Renault | 1:45.456 | +2.365s | 11 |
| 18 | Stoffel Vandoorne | VAN | McLaren Renault | 1:45.505 | +2.414s | 13 |
| 19 | Marcus Ericsson | ERI | Sauber Ferrari | 1:45.910 | +2.819s | 17 |
| 20 | Brendon Hartley | HAR | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 1:46.186 | +3.095s | 11 |
