Russell storms to dominant Baku pole as Antonelli crashes out in Q1

George Russell produced a stunning final lap around the streets of Baku to claim pole position for the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as Mercedes teammate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli suffered a shock early exit.

Russell set a 1:42.526 to finish a commanding 0.837 seconds clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, with Oscar Piastri just one-thousandth of a second behind the Monegasque in third. It was Russell’s fifth pole position of the season.

“It’s been a while, so it definitely feels good,” Russell said. “It’s probably the biggest margin of my whole career, even including F2, F3 days, so the lap felt really sweet.”

Q1

Qualifying began with plenty of attention on Mercedes following the team’s strong pace around the Baku City Circuit, but the opening session produced a major twist in the championship fight.

Antonelli clipped the wall at Turn 1, damaging the suspension on his Mercedes. The championship leader attempted to make his way back to the pits but was eventually instructed to stop the car.

His earlier time was enough to technically progress into Q2, but with the damage preventing him from returning to the circuit, Antonelli would go no further and was classified 16th.

At the front, Russell recovered from some early locking to set the fastest time of Q1, narrowly beating the competition.

Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg were both eliminated for Audi, while Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll also failed to progress.

Q1 eliminated: Gabriel Bortoleto, Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll.

Q2

Russell continued to set the pace in Q2, posting a 1:43.686 on his opening run as Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull remained in contention.

Isack Hadjar impressed on his return to Formula One action, moving within two-tenths of Russell, while Pierre Gasly also put Alpine firmly into the fight for a place in Q3.

Oliver Bearman narrowly missed the final qualifying shootout and finished 11th in the qualifying classification, ahead of Liam Lawson and Alex Albon.

Esteban Ocon and Arvid Lindblad were also eliminated, while Antonelli was officially classified at the bottom of Q2 having been unable to set a time following his Q1 accident.

Q2 eliminated: Oliver Bearman, Liam Lawson, Alex Albon, Esteban Ocon, Arvid Lindblad and Kimi Antonelli.

Q3

McLaren briefly appeared capable of springing a surprise when Lando Norris went fastest before Piastri moved ahead of his teammate by 0.101 seconds.

Russell quickly responded.

The Mercedes driver went back to provisional pole before finding even more time on his final attempt, delivering a 1:42.526 that none of his rivals could get close to.

Leclerc secured a place alongside Russell on the front row with a 1:43.363, while Piastri missed out on second by just 0.001 seconds.

Leclerc admitted afterwards that the size of the gap to Russell had come as a surprise, despite being satisfied with his own lap.

Hadjar delivered one of the standout performances of the session to qualify fourth for Red Bull, ahead of Norris in fifth.

Lewis Hamilton qualified sixth for Ferrari, followed by Gasly and Max Verstappen.

Carlos Sainz initially qualified ninth for Williams, with Franco Colapinto completing the top 10. However, Sainz was subsequently handed a five-place grid penalty after the stewards ruled that he had failed to slow sufficiently for yellow flags during qualifying. He will therefore start 14th.

The penalty promotes Colapinto to ninth on the starting grid, with Bearman moving into 10th.