Lando Norris reasserted management on the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with the quickest time of a frenetic last observe in Baku.
Morning rain ensured the observe began greener than it had been on Friday, and lap instances tumbled all through the hour as town streets gripped up.
That was the case regardless of the presumed fragility of Pirelli’s smooth C6 compound, which on Friday appeared too delicate to set consecutive aggressive laps.
Management of high spot rotated between McLaren, Ferrari and Crimson Bull Racing as drivers accomplished a number of runs on their opening set of softs, however Norris wanted just one lap together with his last set of contemporary tires to set the tempo, a welcome change for the Briton after his scrappy Friday efficiency.
His lap of 1m 41.223s was solely fractionally sooner than Friday’s greatest, set by Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, nevertheless it proved uncatchable within the blustery situations of early Saturday afternoon.
Max Verstappen bought closest after having ended the primary runs quickest, however the Dutchman was 0.222s off the tempo by the top of the hour.
Oscar Piastri put the second McLaren third, however the title chief was 0.254s slower than his teammate.
Piastri day wasn’t as tidy as Norris’s, with the Australian needing three makes an attempt simply to get a time on the board together with his last set of softs.
His first lap was scuppered by a giant snap of oversteer at Flip 4 that compelled him to desert the hassle. He then gave up on his second lap after working deep and into the run-off zone on the first flip.
His third try on the identical set of tires would have been ok for fourth within the last order, however small enhancements on his fourth flying lap bumped him as much as third.
That last try, nevertheless, left time on the desk within the center break up, the place he did not set even a second greatest — unsurprising given the age of his tires by way of the twistiest a part of the observe — and within the last sector, the place he needed to again off as he crossed the end line owing to yellow flags at Flip 1.
Lewis Hamilton, Friday’s quickest man, was fourth and solely 0.022s slower than Norris. He headed Mercedes teammates Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, although the German marque was additional adrift of the tempo, the drivers, 0.653s and 0.741s down on the benchmark.
Alex Albon was the midfield chief in seventh at 0.76s off the tempo, main Haas driver Oliver Bearman and the Racing Bulls automotive of Liam Lawson after the Kiwi executed an ideal 360 spin after being blown off beam at Flip 16.
Charles Leclerc accomplished the highest 10 at 0.986s off the tempo, although the Monegasque’s greatest lap together with his last set of tires was spoilt by a nasty center sector.
Leclerc, a four-time Baku pole-getter, was arguably fortunate to make it to the top of the session within the first place after knocking the surface wall on entry to Flip 7. He was instantly cleared of a puncture, however he returned to pit lane afterwards to confirm that no harm had been accomplished to his front-left suspension.
Isack Hadjar was eleventh forward of Nico Hulkenberg, Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Franco Colapinto and Yuki Tsunoda, whose last flying lap was hampered by site visitors.
Esteban Ocon was seventeenth forward of Gabriel Bortoleto, Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll.
