Russell beats Leclerc by 0.013 seconds and leads the final practice session

George Russell outperformed Charles Leclerc in Free Practice 3 of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as McLaren and Mercedes drew level with Red Bull and Ferrari ahead of qualifying.

Leclerc had made good progress over the course of the session and was able to move to the front of the field after beating an impressive lap from Oscar Piastri later in the session, but the Ferrari driver's lap was beaten by Russell's late effort of 1m42.514s.

Russell, whose drive was interrupted by a series of engine problems on Friday, reported that his Mercedes powertrain was making strange noises in the corners and he also struggled with driving balance during most of Saturday's practice.

But after overtaking Leclerc, Russell was able to withstand the Monegasque's subsequent attempt with his lap of 1:42.527 minutes and thus take the lead before qualifying.

The session began with little more than a series of installation laps. Fast laps were not possible for the first 10 minutes as there were a few light rain drops in the air.

The session then seemed to be gathering momentum, but as Lando Norris prepared to begin a lap, the session was halted when Esteban Ocon's Alpine stalled on the track just before the 15-minute mark.

This caused a delay and after the Alpine was cleared, the session resumed 10 minutes later. With the first sub-1'45 laps, times were slower than in Friday's FP2 session – on fresh soft tyres, Piastri set the benchmark with a 1'45.476.

Max Verstappen needed a quarter of a second to move into the lead, but was overtaken by Alex Albon, who immediately picked up the pace with a time of 1:44.371 minutes.

On his second attempt, Leclerc was ahead of Albon, improving by almost 0.7 seconds in the opening sector and gaining even more time in the second sector.

This attempt was nipped in the bud by another red flag – Oliver Bearman drove too wide into Turn 1 and tried to exit, but was not fast enough and hit the Tecpro barrier with his left front wheel.

A six-minute recovery operation ensured the session could continue with just over 20 minutes on the clock, allowing Norris to set a time of 1m44.226s and move to the front of the field.

Albon retaliated by setting a purple mid-sector and rappelling off Russell, setting the fastest time by a full five seconds, while Leclerc set the lap he expected before Bearman's accident, setting a time of 1m43.455s.

Sergio Perez set a time of 1:43.389 minutes to displace Leclerc from the top of the field, but Oscar Piastri's time of 1:42.749 minutes was clearly overshadowed – a lead of 0.64 seconds for the Australian.

Piastri's time was threatened by Perez and Lewis Hamilton, but Leclerc was able to improve it by 0.185 seconds – before Russell moved to the front of the field.

Leclerc stayed ahead of the McLarens as Lando Norris found a time of 1m42.737s to pass Piastri, while Verstappen's late attempt to push past Perez could not take him beyond fifth. Carlos Sainz separated the Red Bulls after being badly thwarted by Perez at Turn 15 in the final 10 minutes.

Albon and Franco Colapinto remained within reach, while Lewis Hamilton completed the top 10.