Max Verstappen denied George Russell a clean sweep of fastest practice times as Red Bull led a renewed challenge to the Mercedes drivers ahead of Qualifying later on Friday at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The arrival of more characteristic gusty conditions on the streets of Baku for final practice increased the challenge around the wall-lined circuit, with numerous drivers running off track after errors throughout the hour. Mercedes' dominance from Thursday's calmer running initially continued, but Verstappen found increasing pace on the soft tyres and eventually usurped Russell at the top of the timesheet with a best lap of 1:43.922.

Russell, who had a near-miss with the barriers at Turn Seven after running straight on, finished 0.099s behind in second. Ferrari had been well behind the leading pace for most of the session but Lewis Hamilton moved into third with his final lap to finish only 0.111s adrift of Verstappen. Like his Red Bull rival earlier in the session, Hamilton's final-lap time was boosted by a tow from other cars down Baku's mammoth pit straight, giving him extra straight-line speed.

Both the tow and the wind are set to be key factors in the battle for pole position in Qualifying, which gets under way at 1pm, live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event. "The weather has brought us the possibility of an absolutely fascinating and dramatic qualifying to come," said Sky Sports F1's David Croft. "These are not easy conditions out there by any stretch of the imagination." Kimi Antonelli, who leads Russell by 81 points in the championship, was fourth fastest ahead of the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. Both drivers were among those to have off-course moments. Three weeks on from the stunning lap that took him to a maiden F1 pole at similarly high-speed Monza, Pierre Gasly put his Alpine up in sixth to outpace the Mc Larens.

Despite Mc Laren bringing a sizeable car upgrade to Baku, Lando Norris already ruled the reigning world champions out of pole contention after Thursday's running and that prediction appears accurate after they lapped 0.8s off the pace here. Oscar Piastri was seventh fastest ahead of Norris, although both were ahead of Red Bull's Isack Hadjar who appears to still be getting back up to speed after a three-race absence with a wrist injury. Franco Colapinto was 10th in the second Alpine, just ahead of Carlos Sainz in a heavily-revised Williams car which showed more promise on Friday morning as the team bid to join the grid's congested upper-midfield battle.

Lance Stroll completed only nine laps after tagging his Aston Martin against the inside wall at Turn One and stopping in the run-off.