Pérez faster than Leclerc and teammate Verstappen in Baku final training | NOW

Sergio Pérez set the fastest time in the last practice for the Grand Prix of Azerbaijan. The Mexican trumped Charles Leclerc and teammate Max Verstappen. Qualifying will be held on the street circuit in Baku on Saturday afternoon.

Pérez clocked a 1.43.170 and was 0.070 seconds faster than Leclerc in the Ferrari. Verstappen had to concede 0.279 seconds on his teammate. The World Cup leader was even faster in the final phase, but found a slow-driving Esteban Ocon in his path.

Red Bull and Ferrari are again evenly matched, although the Italian top team was expected to be faster in one lap. That turned out not to be the case in the third free practice, although Leclerc did not make a real attempt to clock a quick time in the final phase either.

The fourth fastest time was set by Carlos Sainz, who struggled to keep up with teammate Leclerc in his qualifying simulations. The Spaniard admitted 0.426 on the fastest time of Pérez.

Mercedes looks bad in Baku

In a session without many incidents, the bounce among the Mercedes drivers was especially noticeable. Lewis Hamilton’s car in particular went up and down again. Nevertheless, the Ferrari also suffers a lot from the so-called porpoising, but with Leclerc and Sainz it apparently has no influence on the lap times. Russell eventually finished eighth, more than 1.4 seconds off the fastest time. Hamilton, whose engine had to be scaled back in the final phase, clocked the twelfth time. Mercedes is not doing well in Baku.

That can be said of McLaren, even if that car also suffers a lot from bounce. Lando Norris was fifth, but at a generous 1.2 seconds from Pérez. Daniel Ricciardo, who is under considerable pressure due to lack of performance, was sixth, less than a tenth of his teammate.

The start of the third free practice was delayed by fifteen minutes because a crash barrier had to be repaired. As a result, Saturday afternoon’s qualifying will also start fifteen minutes later, at 4.15 pm.