Max Verstappen prevented George Russell from achieving a clean sweep of the fastest times in the final practice at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, signaling a renewed Red Bull challenge to the Mercedes pair ahead of Friday's qualifying. The session was marked by increasingly gusty winds that swept across Baku's street circuit, turning the already demanding track into a real test of driver skill and car stability. The stronger breezes caused several competitors to lose grip and run off the racing line, with a number of incidents occurring as drivers struggled to keep their cars on the narrow tarmac.
On Thursday, when the weather was calmer, Mercedes had seemed to have the upper hand, posting the quickest sector times and dominating the early part of the weekend. However, as the wind picked up during the final practice hour, Verstappen began to extract more performance from his Red Bull on the soft tyre compound. He steadily improved his lap times, eventually posting a best lap of 1:43.922, which nudged him into the top spot on the session's timing sheet. Russell, who had been the session leader for most of the morning, suffered a close call at Turn Seven when he carried too much speed and brushed the barriers.
Despite the near-miss, he managed to set a second‑fastest time, just 0.099 seconds slower than Verstappen. His run demonstrated both the potential of the Mercedes package in windy conditions and the fine line the drivers must walk between aggression and caution on Baku's tight corners. Ferrari, which had been trailing the front runners for the bulk of the practice, saw a late surge from Lewis Hamilton. On his final lap, Hamilton capitalized on a slipstream effect—commonly called a tow—from cars ahead on the long pit straight, gaining extra straight‑line velocity that helped him carve out a third‑place time only 0.111 seconds shy of Verstappen's benchmark.
The tow, combined with the persistent crosswinds, highlighted how aerodynamic aids and wind direction will be crucial variables in the upcoming qualifying battle, set to begin at 1 p.m. and broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event.
"The weather has given us the prospect of an absolutely fascinating and dramatic qualifying to come," remarked David Croft of Sky Sports F1. "These are not easy conditions out there by any stretch of the imagination." His comments underscored the consensus among teams that the gusts could shuffle the grid more than usual, rewarding drivers who can adapt their braking points and throttle application on the fly. Kimi Antonelli, who leads Russell by 81 points in the championship standings, posted the fourth‑quickest time, edging out Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
Both drivers experienced brief off‑track excursions, a reminder that even the most experienced pilots can be caught out by Baku's unpredictable wind pockets. Pierre Gasly, still riding the momentum from his pole position at Monza three weeks earlier, secured sixth place for Alpine, outpacing the McLaren duo despite the team’s recent aerodynamic upgrades. Lando Norris, who had already signaled that the reigning world champions were unlikely to fight for pole after Thursday's runs, proved his assessment correct.
McLaren's cars were roughly 0.8 seconds slower than the leading Red Bull and Mercedes machines, leaving Norris and his teammate Oscar Piastri (who finished seventh) out of serious contention for the front row. Notably, Piastri managed to stay ahead of Red Bull's Isack Hadjar, who is still regaining full fitness after a wrist injury that forced him to miss three races.
Franco Colapinto placed tenth in the second Alpine, just ahead of Carlos Sainz, who drove a heavily revised Williams that showed promising improvement compared with earlier sessions. The Williams team appears to be closing the gap to the congested upper‑midfield pack, a development that could make the race more competitive than initially expected.
Lance Stroll's practice ended prematurely after he clipped the inside wall at Turn One and was forced to stop in the runoff area, completing only nine laps. His incident highlighted the thin margins for error on Baku's street layout, where a single misjudgment can end a session abruptly. The weekend schedule continues with a packed lineup of support races and qualifying sessions. On Friday, the F2 Feature Race 1 kicks off at 11:10 a.m., followed by the Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying build‑up at 12:30 p.m., and the main qualifying session at 1 p.m.
Sky Sports Main Event will also carry live coverage of the events. Saturday brings the second F2 Feature Race at 7:55 a.m., the Grand Prix build‑up at 10:30 a.m., and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix itself at noon, with the race concluding around 2 p.m. and post‑race analysis later in the afternoon.
Fans can stream the action via Sky Sports F1, accessible through the NOW platform, which offers a contract‑free, cancel‑anytime option. The 2026 Formula 1 season continues to deliver high‑octane drama, and the Azerbaijan round promises to be a standout chapter, especially given the challenging wind conditions that have already reshaped practice results and set the stage for an unpredictable qualifying session.