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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.

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Results third free practice Azerbaijan:

posdriverteamtimelaps
1Sebastian VettelVETFerrari1:43.091
2Lewis HamiltonHAMMercedes1:43.452+0.361s
3Kimi RäikkönenRAIFerrari1:43.493+0.402s
4Max VerstappenVERRed Bull Racing TAG Heuer1:43.519+0.428s
5Valtteri BottasBOTMercedes1:43.569+0.478s
6Sergio PerezPERForce India Mercedes1:43.936+0.845s
7Kevin MagnussenMAGHaas Ferrari1:43.958+0.867s
8Lance StrollSTRWilliams Mercedes1:44.123+1.032s
9Esteban OconOCOForce India Mercedes1:44.220+1.129s
10Sergey SirotkinSIRWilliams Mercedes1:44.534+1.443s
11Fernando AlonsoALOMcLaren Renault1:44.763+1.672s
12Daniel RicciardoRICRed Bull Racing TAG Heuer1:44.861+1.770s
13Pierre GaslyGASScuderia Toro Rosso Honda1:44.905+1.814s
14Charles LeclercLECSauber Ferrari1:45.218+2.127s
15Romain GrosjeanGROHaas Ferrari1:45.261+2.170s
16Carlos SainzSAIRenault1:45.432+2.341s
17Nico HulkenbergHULRenault1:45.456+2.365s
18Stoffel VandoorneVANMcLaren Renault1:45.505+2.414s
19Marcus EricssonERISauber Ferrari1:45.910+2.819s
20Brendon HartleyHARScuderia Toro Rosso Honda1:46.186+3.095s