Valtteri Bottas has topped the final Azerbaijan Grand Prix practice and team mate Lewis Hamilton finished third as Mercedes heaped pressure on Ferrari's Formula One championship leader Sebastian Vettel.
Bottas, on soft tyres, was the early pacesetter, but a mistake on turn two led to Hamilton overtaking him as practice leader, before the Finn bounced back and finished top of the classification with a time of 1.42.742.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was second, 0.095 seconds behind the leader.
Hamilton was third and Australian Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth, 0.545 seconds off the pace.
Four-times world champion Vettel ended the session in 12th, 1.602 seconds behind Bottas, after withdrawing early due to "a loss in the hydraulic pressure circuit".
It is a potentially significant blow to Ferrari's hopes of matching Mercedes' four Grand Prix wins this season.
Hamilton, who is 12 points behind Vettel in the championship standings, finished four tenths of a second behind Bottas.
Ricciardo's Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen recorded the fastest time in both of Friday's sessions, but withdrew in sixth after a complete power failure due to a suspected hydraulic issue, with the driver having previously complained about engine problems.
Hamilton and Romain Grosjean of Haas were two of several drivers who rode their luck on the challenging Baku circuit's narrow bends, while Jolyon Palmer's misfortune continued as his car caught fire.
Share
