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Valtteri Bottas fastest for Mercedes in final Baku F1 practice

Valtteri Bottas edged out Kimi Raikkonen to lead final free practice for Formula 1's Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, as both Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen had problems.

Bottas clocked a 1m42.742s on the super-soft Pirelli tyres in his Mercedes as he finished 0.095 seconds clear of Ferrari driver Raikkonen.

The second Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, who had a wild moment at the narrow Turn 8, was three tenths further back in third.

Bottas set the early pace on the soft tyre, heading Raikkonen by almost four tenths of a second.

When teams turned their attention to qualifying-simulations on the super-soft tyres, Hamilton and Bottas traded fastest laps.

Hamilton was unhappy with his tyres throughout but Bottas enjoyed a more straightforward session and gradually improved his times over several laps.

Championship leader Vettel had a frustrating session, managing just seven laps and ending his running early when Ferrari called him in after spotting "an issue" it later said was a hydraulic problem.

Vettel did not manage to complete a low-fuel run and finished 12th overall.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo popped in a quick lap late on to finish fourth, half a second off the pace, with team-mate Verstappen sixth.

Verstappen, who topped both sessions on Friday, was on-course to be in the top three before he stopped out on track in the closing stages reporting "everything just switched off".

Red Bull said Verstappen's failure was also a hydraulic issue.

Esteban Ocon was the leading Force India in fifth with Felipe Massa, who narrowly avoided contact at Turn 8, seventh.

Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat was eighth, ahead of Lance Stroll, as Sergio Perez completed the top 10.

Nico Hulkenberg was 11th, while his Renault team-mate Jolyon Palmer failed to set a representative time after stopping on track early on with a fire at the rear of the car.

McLaren's Fernando Alonso was 14th, two places and half a second clear of team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne, with both set to start from the back after heavy grid penalties for engine changes.

Zdroj: autosport.com