Extending a perfect qualifying record for Mercedes power with a 15th pole of the season, George Russell finished comfortably clear of Charles Leclerc to claim pole position for the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and receive the Pirelli Pole Position Award from Casey Stoner, while Kimi Antonelli suffered an early Q1 disaster.
The Brit stormed to pole, eight tenths ahead of Leclerc, setting himself up for a huge chance to recover some crucial points in his championship deficit to his teammate, who starts 16th.
Max Verstappen, having topped FP3, could only take eighth place, with Oscar Piastri rounding up the top three.
Q1
Qualifying got off to an animated start following an initial five-minute delay, as Lance Stroll immediately triggered an early yellow flag after sliding straight into the newly resurfaced Turn 7.
When the first flying laps settled, Isack Hadjar topped the timesheets ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who capitalised on a tow from Stroll down the main straight to gain three-tenths of a second over Charles Leclerc in fifth. While Hadjar enjoyed a strong start on his return from injury, Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen struggled early on, complaining over team radio about heavy bottoming that compromised his braking stability.
Disaster then struck for Kimi Antonelli at Turn 1. The Mercedes driver clipped the wall, snapping his front-left suspension and prematurely ending his session. Though the Italian attempted to limp back to the pit lane, race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington instructed him to stop for safety reasons, forcing Antonelli to park up.
The incident left Antonelli starting P16 on the grid, marking his first Q1 elimination of the 2026 season on the very circuit where Oscar Piastri’s championship charge swung into gear a year prior. While Antonelli proved at Monza that he can fight back from the tail end of the field, overtaking around the tight Baku Street Circuit will pose a far tougher challenge.
Elsewhere, Lando Norris suffered from mid-lap understeer into Turn 16 with a strong tailwind, leaving him momentarily stranded in P12 before late improvements elevated him to P7.
As the track rubbered in, Red Bull’s underlying pace shone through. Verstappen bounced back to claim top spot ahead of Hadjar, but it was George Russell who ultimately snatched P1 overall in the dying seconds of Q1. The session concluded under yellow flag conditions once more as Stroll ran wide at Turn 3.
Eliminated: Gabriel Bortoleto, Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas
Q2
The drama continued into the second segment of qualifying, starting with yet another early yellow flag as Arvid Lindblad ran wide into Turn 4.
Carlos Sainz set the initial pace to top the timesheets, but the Spaniard was quickly pushed down as the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri surged to the top. As the track evolution ramped up, both George Russell and Charles Leclerc found extra time to displace the Papaya pair.
In a fiercely competitive battle at the top, Russell eventually secured the benchmark time in Q2 with a 1:43.462, holding a 0.244-second cushion over Max Verstappen as the drivers geared up for the final pole position shootout.
Eliminated: Oliver Bearman, Liam Lawson, Alex Albon, Esteban Ocon, Arvid Lindblad, Kimi Antonelli
Q3
As track temperatures dropped four degrees for the final pole position shootout, George Russell picked up right where he left off, laying down a formidable pace in the opening minutes of Q3.
While Lando Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri briefly took turns at the top of the order, Russell responded with a blistering 1:43.037 to reclaim provisional pole, holding a comfortable 0.435-second advantage over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
The session’s momentum was interrupted late on when Franco Colapinto ran wide into Turn 15, triggering yet another yellow flag and compromising the final flying laps.
George Russell capped off a commanding start of his Baku weekend by securing his fifth pole position of the season, his first since the Austrian Grand Prix, underlining Mercedes’ strong momentum on the street circuit. The Briton stormed to pole with a dominant 1:42.526, leaving Charles Leclerc a massive 0.837s adrift in second, while Oscar Piastri rounded out the top three for McLaren.
Isack Hadjar capped off an impressive comeback to take a solid P4 despite searching for the car’s limit, standing in contrast to Max Verstappen’s disappointing P8 after the Red Bull driver had topped FP3.
Top 10: George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, Isack Hadjar, Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton, Pierre Gasly, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Franco Colapinto.
READ MORE – F1 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Qualifying Results
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