Azerbaijan – Free Practice 3: Bottas lifts Mercedes’ spirits
After conceding the best time in the first two practice sessions to Max Verstappen the day before, Valtteri Bottas dominated a final session punctuated by a number of incidents in Baku. He was ahead of Räikkönen's Ferrari and his own team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
In the first 10 minutes of the session, only three drivers set a timed reference: Sainz, Palmer, and Pérez. For Palmer, the practice session ends here due to the engine of the Briton’s Renault catching fire. It was a fire that the Azerbaijani track marshals struggled to extinguish, with the flag being waved in the first sector for about 10 minutes.
Marshals on hand quickly to damp down the flames 👍 #AzerbaijanGP 🇦🇿 #F1 pic.twitter.com/tJVFK7Fo15
— Formula 1 (@F1) 24 juin 2017
Shortly after, Bottas’ Mercedes takes the lead on the timesheet, equipped with yellow-striped soft tires, ahead of the cars of Massa, Räikkönen, and Pérez, all three fitted with red-striped super soft tires. Lewis Hamilton’s second Mercedes is then 5th, also equipped with soft tires.
26 minutes before the end of the session, Vettel’s Ferrari snatched 5th place from Hamilton on super softs but with a slight alert regarding his brakes, prompting him to return to the pits.
20 minutes from the end of this practice session, Hamilton takes the provisional fastest time, which was held until then by his teammate, by almost 0.4 seconds, but with the super-soft tires equipped.
In the last quarter of the session, Verstappen climbs the standings by moving into provisional 3rd place, half a second behind the new provisional leader Valtteri Bottas, who surpasses Hamilton by 3/10ths before the three-time English world champion improves his time to be 0.1 seconds from his Finnish teammate.
10 minutes before the end, things speed up: Verstappen’s Red Bull comes to a stop between sectors 2 and 3 due to a mechanical issue.
Problems for VER 📻 “Everything just switched off” he says as he parks up at Turn 16 #AzerbaijanGP 🇦🇿 #F1 pic.twitter.com/qwGsKJKt3D
— Formula 1 (@F1) 24 juin 2017
At the same time, Räikkönen plays the spoiler among the Mercedes by positioning 2nd provisionally. Esteban Ocon follows with a good session, securing a solid 5th position, just behind the leading Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo, and 0.6 seconds off Bottas’s best time. Verstappen eventually finishes his session in a modest 6th place in the standings.
PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF FP3): Finns on top 🇫🇮 #AzerbaijanGP 🇦🇿 #F1 pic.twitter.com/Uly00NxlBO
— Formula 1 (@F1) 24 juin 2017
