Pierre Gasly was the unexpected pacesetter after Max Verstappen found the barrier in Practice 3 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Dutchman simply braked too late for Turn 15 during a hard tyre run and was unable to avoid hitting the Tecpro wall, resulting in a damaged front wing and front-right suspension.
As a result, Red Bull now have a race to get his car ready for qualifying in just under two hours, but should be able to make the repairs well in time.
With each lap being an adventure as drivers went down escape roads and tried to properly prepare the tyres, no real pecking order emerged.
Sergio Perez is likely the man to beat in the other Red Bull, but Gasly did that by three-tenths in the AlphaTauri, posting a 1m42.251.
Mercedes’ problems also continued as they languished towards the bottom of the timesheet for much of the session.
However, a strong slipstream allowed Lewis Hamilton to gain six-tenths on the main straight on his best lap, as the world champion finished third.
Ferrari continues to look strong as Charles Leclerc took fourth and Carlos Sainz fifth, while McLaren appears to have made some ground with Lando Norris sixth and Daniel Ricciardo 10th.
Fernando Alonso was seventh and Esteban Ocon ninth in the two Alpines, and Yuki Tsunoda backed up Gasly’s speed in eighth.
Aston Martin lurked just outside the top 10 in P11 and P12, but Valtteri Bottas’ miserable weekend continued in 13th as the Finn far from happy in his Mercedes.
Verstappen ended 15th after his crash, while George Russell’s Williams ground to a halt late on leaving the Briton in 18th.
At the back, the two Haas’ continued to bring up the field, but that’s just about the only guarantee you can make when it comes to what will happen in qualifying later on.
Full results from Practice 3 can be seen below:
