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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.

PRACTICE THREE TIMES:

Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1m42.742s - 21
2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m42.837s 0.095s 14
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m43.158s 0.416s 23
4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1m43.287s 0.545s 24
5 Esteban Ocon Force India/Mercedes 1m43.344s 0.602s 21
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 1m43.614s 0.872s 16
7 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 1m43.738s 0.996s 18
8 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Renault 1m43.908s 1.166s 21
9 Lance Stroll Williams/Mercedes 1m44.040s 1.298s 17
10 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m44.138s 1.396s 22
11 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1m44.312s 1.570s 16
12 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m44.344s 1.602s 7
13 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso/Renault 1m44.401s 1.659s 23
14 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 1m44.741s 1.999s 18
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1m44.926s 2.184s 20
16 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren/Honda 1m45.143s 2.401s 17
17 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1m45.491s 2.749s 20
18 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m45.645s 2.903s 21
19 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber/Ferrari 1m45.722s 2.980s 19
20 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1m53.040s 10.298s 4

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