Norris underlines McLarens pole credentials with impressive FP3 ahead of Verstappen and Piastri

After a disappointing end to Friday's proceedings by crashing into the wall and damaging his suspension, Norris returned to the top of the timing sheets emphatically.

A 1.41.223 was the fastest lap of the session from the Brit, finishing two-tenths clear of Verstappen, while Oscar Piastri rounded out the top three.

Lewis Hamilton continued Ferrari's fine start in Baku by taking P4 ahead of some impressive laps from the Mercedes pair f Kimi Antonelli and George Russell in P5 and P6, respectively.

Alex Albon and Ollie Bearman were also hugely impressive with a P7 and P8 finish for the pair of them, while Liam Lawson and Charles Leclerc rounded out the top ten.

Earlier showers in the capital of Azerbaijan moved away from the Baku City Circuit before FP3 got underway, giving teams and drivers some vital dry running in the final session for qualifying.

However, high winds throughout the hour-long session were present, with those expected to continue and potentially increase as the weekend continues.

It was a quiet start to the final practice session of the weekend, with no cars leaving their garages in the first six minutes of the session, as Verstappen only entered the garage when Lawson became the first car to grace the track with 54 minutes remaining.

Only three cars took to the track in the first 15 minutes of FP3, but drivers finally came out of the pit lane to take to the track, with the majority of them using the soft tyres, with Piastri setting the pace with a 1.44.817.

Bearman impressed on the hard tyres to then go faster with a 1.44.450 just after the 20-minute mark, highlighting the pace of the white-walled tyre that will be utilised during Sunday's Grand Prix.

A 1.43.640 from Norris then saw the Brit catapult himself back up the timing sheet, portraying the pace that McLaren didn't show in FP2.

Hamilton found himself in P1 with a 1.42.988 halfway through the session as Ferrari looked to back up their impressive one-two finish in FP2, before teammate Leclerc went six-tenths clear by setting a 1.42.354 to go fastest, two-tenths clear of Verstappen in P2, with Piastri rounding out the top three with 20 minutes remaining after fastest laps were continued to be traded.

Verstappen, after staying in his pit box for the first 25 minutes of the session, then showed he is not to be discounted from the pole position battle later in the day, going six-tenths quicker than Leclerc with a fantastic lap of 1.41.727.

But, as it has been throughout 2025, McLaren's dominance was shown, with Norris making amends for his FP2 crash by setting a 1.41.223, five-tenths clear of Verstappen's lap.

Verstappen, Piastri and Hamilton then put in their fastest laps with some fine pace, but none of them were able to get close to an ominous Norris.