Max Verstappen finally got the better of Mercedes, topping FP3 for the first time all season and denying Russell what looked set to be a perfect sweep of the Baku practice sessions. It took a while to get going, Hamilton and Leclerc trading early benchmark times before Verstappen jumped to the top thanks to a well timed tow through the final sector. Russell and Hamilton both found the run off areas during the session, at Turns 1 and 4 respectively, while Antonelli did the same at Turn 15, all without major consequence. Russell continued to lower his own times late on but could not quite find the tenths needed to reclaim top spot, eventually settling for second just 0.099 seconds back.
Verstappen led the way ahead of Russell and Hamilton, with barely a tenth covering the top three. Antonelli was fourth, Leclerc fifth and Gasly sixth. Piastri and Norris followed in seventh and eighth for McLaren, with Hadjar ninth and Franco Colapinto rounding out the top ten for Alpine.
