FP3: Norris leads Verstappen and Piastri as drivers battle the elements in Baku

Lando Norris topped Free Practice 3 for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, leading Max Verstappen and title rival Oscar Piastri ahead of Qualifying.

The Briton posted a 1m 41.223s which left him 0.222s clear of Verstappen as drivers battled the elements in Baku on Saturday.

Although the circuit was dry for the final one-hour session of practice, heavy overnight rain removed much of the rubber that had been put down on Friday, while high winds created a difficult situation for drivers into the many braking zones.

Ollie Bearman became the first driver to use the run-off area, heading deep at Turn 4 inside the opening 10 minutes and reporting that "it's challenging with this wind" as almost the entire field remained sheltered in the garages approaching the 20-minute mark.

Norris was eventually one of the first to set a time, the McLaren driver having lost half of his running in FP2 after clouting the wall and immediately using a set of soft Pirelli tyres, as did McLaren team mate Piastri, both drivers having had scrappy Friday running.

Having taken pole position at the last four events in Azerbaijan, Charles Leclerc was immediately setting the pace, posting a 1m 43.048s despite running deep at the final braking zone, while team mate Lewis Hamilton had to recover after running off track at Turn 3.

The Briton continued his encouraging performance from Friday by jumping to the top of the times on his next lap with a 1m 42.988s, but which was still almost two seconds slower than his own session-best from FP2.

As track conditions improved, so did lap times inside the final 30 minutes, Leclerc lowering the benchmark to a 1m 42.354s and surviving a brush with the wall on the entry to Turn 7 on a later lap, while Liam Lawson suffered a full 360-degree spin at Turn 16.

Meanwhile, Verstappen became the first driver in FP3 to set a time below the 1m 42s barrier, posting a 1m 41.727s as teams and drivers focused on Qualifying simulations in the final 15 minutes.

Norris set the new fastest benchmark across all three sessions with a 1m 41.223s, while Piastri had to abort his flying lap after suffering a moment of oversteer through Turn 4, the Drivers' Championship leader then running deep at Turn 1 on his next lap.

Piastri was able to register a competitive lap time, but found himself three-tenths behind Norris as Verstappen and then Hamilton slotted between the two title rivals.

Piastri improved with his final lap but only jumped to third and over two-tenths adrift of Norris as Verstappen remained between the pair, with Hamilton and the Mercedes cars of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell completing the top six.

Alex Albon (Williams), Bearman (Haas), Lawson (Racing Bulls) and Leclerc rounded out the top 10, the Ferrari driver failing to improve with his final lap after running deep at Turn 4.

Isack Hadjar sat just outside the top 10, as the Racing Bulls driver headed Nico Hulkenberg (Kick Sauber), Carlos Sainz (Williams), the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso and Franco Colapinto's Alpine.

Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull), Esteban Ocon (Haas), the second Kick Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto, Pierre Gasly's Alpine and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) completed the classification ahead of Qualifying later today.