BAKU, Azerbaijan — Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen crashed in the third practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday as Pierre Gasly set the fastest time.
Verstappen ran wide on a narrow left-hand corner in the old town section while pushing to match the pace of his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez. The low-speed impact with the barrier on the exit broke the suspension on Verstappen’s car.
The session was stopped so Verstappen’s stranded car could be recovered. The Dutch driver was visibly frustrated to have his preparation for Saturday’s qualifying session disrupted and placed 15th from limited running.
AlphaTauri’s Gasly was fastest in a time of 1 minute, 42.251 seconds, beating Perez by .344 seconds, though Perez still has the fastest time of the weekend so far from Friday.
Defending champion Lewis Hamilton complained of a lack of grip, but he came closer to Red Bull’s pace after two poor sessions Friday. A lap of 1:42.697 late in the session put Hamilton third in his best time of the weekend so far, .446 off Gasly His teammate Valtteri Bottas was 13th.
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