BAKU (Azerbaijan): Alpha Tauri driver Pierre Gasly was fastest in Saturday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix third practice which was red-flagged after Max Verstappen crashed midway through the session in Baku.
The Red Bull driver and championship leader slid into a wall at turn 15 and was unable to engage reverse forcing him to abandon his car and the remainder of the session which was held up for 10 minutes.
Gasly posted a time of 1min 42.251sec to top the timesheets from Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull.
The Mexican was .446s quicker than seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes, aiming to bounce back this weekend after a disappointing time in Monaco.
Verstappen won in Monaco to lead Hamilton by four points in the drivers’ standings with Red Bull one point clear of Mercedes in the constructors’ championship.
Qualifying gets under way at 1200GMT.
Azerbaijan Grand Prix third practice times
Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri-Honda) 1 min 42.251sec (16 laps), Sergio Pérez (MEX/Red Bull-Honda) 1:42.595 (19), Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1:42.697 (16), Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) 1:42.778 (16), Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Ferrari) 1:43.006 (17), Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:43.011 (15), Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine-Renault) 1:43.080 (15), Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Honda) 1:43.244 (19), Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 1:43.294 (15), Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:43.557 (17), Sebastian Vettel (GER/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1:43.585 (13), Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1:43.682 (13), Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) 1:43.745 (16), Kimi Räikkönen (FIN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) 1:43.826 (17), Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull-Honda) 1:43.984 ( 6), Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams-Mercedes) 1:44.054 (17), Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) 1:44.113 (11), George Russell (GBR/Williams-Mercedes) 1:44.434 (12), Mick Schumacher (GER/Haas-Ferrari) 1:45.282 (17), Nikita Mazepin (RUS/Haas-Ferrari) 1:45.711 (12)
