Red Bull’s Sergio Perez narrowly headed Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc during final practice for Formula 1’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Perez set a time of 1:43.170s on Soft tyres to finish just 0.070s clear of Leclerc around the streets of Baku.
Reigning champion Max Verstappen, who abandoned his first push lap after Valtteri Bottas went wide at Turn 3, wound up third overall.
Verstappen had set the quickest first sector time on another push lap but had to back off after encountering Fernando Alonso through Turn 12.
Carlos Sainz was fourth for Ferrari, ahead of the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, showing improved speed after Friday struggles.
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly wound up seventh while Mercedes continued to lack overall performance.
George Russell classified eighth, 1.4s off the pace, while Lewis Hamilton was a couple of tenths further back in 12th spot.
Both drivers complained about a lack of rear end while Mercedes informed Hamilton that his engine had been turned down at stages due to a lack of available mileage.
Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso were ninth and 11th respectively for Alpine, sandwiching Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel.
There was a 15-minute delay to the start of the session while repairs were undertaken to the barriers at Turn 1 following an accident in the preceding Formula 2 race.
The session ran to its full hour, meaning that as per Article 39 of the regulations – which outlines that there must be a two-hour window between the end of practice and the start of Q1 – qualifying will now begin 15 minutes later than initially scheduled.
Qualifying is scheduled for 18:15 local time.
[motorsport_result id=’87071′]
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