George Russell secured pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with a dominant qualifying performance on Friday, setting a 1:42.526 to finish 0.837 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and 0.838 clear of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
The Mercedes driver controlled the session from start to finish, topping the timesheets in Q1, Q2 and Q3 to claim a commanding pole at the Baku City Circuit.
Leclerc will start alongside Russell on the front row, with Piastri taking third. Lando Norris could only manage fourth after his final qualifying lap ended with a lock-up, preventing the McLaren driver from challenging for a place on the front row.
Isack Hadjar also produced an impressive performance on his return to Formula 1 after missing the last three Grands Prix through injury. The Red Bull driver reached Q3 and secured fifth place, putting himself in a strong position for Saturday’s race.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton endured a more difficult qualifying session and will start from sixth, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in seventh.
Max Verstappen will start eighth, while Carlos Sainz secured his best qualifying result of the season for Williams in ninth. Alpine’s Franco Colapinto completed the top 10.
Antonelli hits the wall in Q1
The biggest championship development of the session came at the other Mercedes, however, as Kimi Antonelli’s qualifying ended in Q1 after the championship leader brushed the wall.
Antonelli had already made it through to Q2, but the contact ended his session and left him unable to set another competitive time. He will therefore start Saturday’s race from 16th on the grid.
The incident comes at a particularly difficult moment for the Italian, who arrived in Baku with an 81-point advantage over Russell in the drivers’ championship.
While the contact was the result of a mistake rather than a mechanical problem, the consequences could be significant given how difficult overtaking can be around the Baku street circuit.
Antonelli will nevertheless have one of the longest overtaking opportunities on the Formula 1 calendar at his disposal. The circuit features a 2.2-kilometre flat-out section from Turn 16 to Turn 1, the longest straight on the current F1 calendar. Cars reach high speeds before braking heavily for Turn 1, making it one of the key overtaking opportunities of the lap.
That could give Antonelli opportunities to recover positions during the race, although starting from 16th leaves the championship leader with plenty of work to do if he is to limit the damage.
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Russell eyes eighth career victory
For Russell, meanwhile, the qualifying result gives him an ideal opportunity to reduce the gap to his teammate at the top of the championship.
The Mercedes driver will start from pole after showing the strongest pace throughout all three qualifying sessions. Mercedes has already taken pole in 10 of the first 14 rounds this season, underlining the team’s strong qualifying record in 2026.
Russell will now look to convert that advantage into his eighth Formula 1 victory when the Azerbaijan Grand Prix gets underway on Saturday.
Behind him, Leclerc and Piastri will both be looking to challenge for victory, with Baku’s unpredictable races often creating opportunities for drivers starting behind pole position to fight for the win.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix race is scheduled on Saturday, September 26 at 11:00 (Moroccan time).
