Verstappen goes fastest in final Azerbaijan practice to deny Russell clean sweep

[p]The Dutchman clocked a one-minute, 43.922 ‌second lap in the closing minutes of the ‌hour-long session to pip [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/russell-george/xxF56RaN/"]Russell[/a] by 0.099 seconds.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hamilton-lewis/tI5Vpe1h/"]Lewis Hamilton[/a] also ‌pulled out a late flier to go third for ‌Ferrari 0.111 seconds off [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/verstappen-max/UV3mgeXB/"]Verstappen[/a]’s pace.[/p][p]Runaway championship leader [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/antonelli-andrea-kimi/ptGu0mT1/"]Kimi Antonelli[/a], who lost valuable track time to a hydraulics issue on Thursday, ‌was fourth.[/p][p]Russell, who trails his 20-year-old Italian ⁠teammate by 81 points ‌after 14 rounds, has looked dialled in all weekend.[/p][embed guid="89a3dbcd-3081-4e6e-8ab2-974df86f43bb" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2103417131018887211" social-type="twitter" /][p]The 28-year-old was ​fastest in both sessions of running on Thursday and, until Verstappen’s late effort, had looked set ​to close out his domination of practice with another fastest effort.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leclerc-charles/KlCOSRub/"]Charles Leclerc[/a], who has started the Baku race from ⁠pole four times ​but is yet to win, was fifth for Ferrari ahead of Alpine’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gasly-pierre/nqYFMBBf/"]Pierre Gasly[/a] in sixth.[/p][p]McLaren pair [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/piastri-oscar/MqKAIeUf/"]Oscar Piastri[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/norris-lando/WSVABbVF/"]Lando Norris[/a] were seventh and eighth ahead of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hadjar-isack/8SAk38Ui/"]Isack ‌Hadjar[/a], making his Red Bull return after missing three races with a wrist injury.[/p][p]Argentine [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/colapinto-franco/GzFqySBA/"]Franco Colapinto[/a] rounded out the top-10 for Alpine.[/p][p]The session ran without interruptions, but gusty conditions sent several drivers, including Verstappen and Hamilton, skittering across the run-off areas.[/p][p]Russell very nearly ploughed into the barriers during one such instance but managed to get his Mercedes stopped just in time.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/stroll-lance/I3p9zz4s/"]Lance Stroll[/a] clouted a barrier ‌and picked up a puncture, continuing a nightmare weekend ​for Aston Martin.[/p][p]Both the Canadian and double world champion ‌teammate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alonso-fernando/rVRhR90U/"]Fernando Alonso[/a] are set to start from the back of the grid thanks to hefty power-unit-related penalties.[/p][p]The Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the first of a "triple header" of races on consecutive weekends, is being run on ⁠Saturday this year with ⁠the country marking its ‌Remembrance Day on Sunday.[/p]