George Russell delivered a commanding performance to capture pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, while championship contender Kimi Antonelli suffered a crash in Q1 that will see him line up 16th on the grid. Russell’s pace had been evident throughout the three practice sessions, and he translated that speed into a flawless final qualifying run, edging out Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by eight‑tenths of a second.
Antonelli’s misfortune came early in the session when he clipped the inside wall at Turn 1. The impact forced him to stop the car in the middle sector, despite his attempts to keep going and return to the pit lane. "I turned in and had a lot more front end compared to the lap before and I touched the wall," Antonelli explained afterward, noting that his perfect Q3 record for the 2026 season had come to an abrupt end.
"It was a mistake on my part, very unnecessary. I’m angry about it and I’ll try to do better tomorrow." Russell’s pole puts him in a strong position to chip away at the 81‑point gap he currently trails Antonelli by when the race starts at 12:00 pm on Saturday (with a build‑up broadcast from 10:30 am) on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event. "It’s probably the biggest margin of my whole career, even counting my F2 and F3 days," Russell said, adding that he has not stood on a podium since his win at the Austrian Grand Prix in June. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri qualified third, marking his best starting position since the Hungarian Grand Prix in July.
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, returning from a wrist injury that kept him out of the previous three race weekends, secured fourth on the grid. Max Verstappen, who had looked like a genuine pole threat, was compromised by yellow‑flag interruptions caused by Lando Norris after Norris locked up and went off at Turn 3 during the final Q3 runs. Norris will start fifth, while Verstappen drops to eighth, behind Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton in sixth and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in seventh. Williams made a notable appearance in Q3 for the first time this season, with Carlos Sainz qualifying ninth.
However, Sainz incurred a five‑place grid penalty for failing to slow under yellow‑flag conditions after an off‑track excursion, meaning he will start from 14th. Ferrari’s Sergio Perez (listed as Cadillac in the original feed) qualified 20th but received a three‑place penalty for impeding Piastri in Q1. Aston Martin drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll will also start from the back of the field after taking on new power‑unit elements that carry penalties.
The provisional top‑ten after qualifying reads as follows: 1. George Russell (Mercedes) 2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 4.
Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) 5. Lando Norris (McLaren) 6.
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 7. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 8. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 9.
Carlos Sainz* (Williams) 10. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) *Note: Sainz carries a five‑place grid drop. Russell had topped both Thursday practice sessions, but Friday’s final practice saw Verstappen claim the fastest time, narrowing the perceived advantage of the Mercedes car.
Nevertheless, Mercedes remained the favorite heading into qualifying, albeit by a modest margin. The lack of high‑speed corners at Baku prompted most teams—except McLaren—to run a single tyre set throughout Q3, aiming to keep the rubber in an optimal temperature window. Piastri initially posted the fastest time after the first run, but Russell responded by improving half a second on that lap and then further lowered his time on the final flying lap to a remarkable 1:42.526, a benchmark no other driver could approach. Leclerc, a four‑time Baku pole‑sitter, settled for second, still 0.837 seconds adrift of Russell.
Both Piastri and Hadjar maximised the performance of their machinery to secure the second row. Norris’s over‑ambitious push at Turn 3 sent him into the runoff area, compromising Verstappen’s lap as well. Even with that incident, Russell’s pace was so dominant that it would have been difficult for anyone—including Antonelli—to challenge it under the conditions.
Reflecting on his performance, Russell said, "It’s been a while, so it definitely feels good. It’s probably the biggest margin of my whole career, even counting my F2 and F3 days. The lap felt really sweet; the car has been feeling great this weekend, and on a circuit like this when you can hook it up like that it feels amazing. It was just the perfect lap at the end.
I was in a good gap behind Hadjar, which gave me a nice slipstream on the back straight, probably shaving another tenth or two off my time." Antonelli, who has made very few errors this season, simply misjudged the amount of grip available at the first corner, hitting the inside wall and damaging the track rod between his left front tyre and the chassis. Just three weeks earlier, Antonelli had pulled off a stunning victory from 19th place at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza—an overtaking‑friendly circuit. Baku, by contrast, features a series of slow‑speed corners that tend to spread the field out, making such a comeback far less likely. Russell told Sky Sports F1, "I’m feeling good but there are fast drivers around.
Kimi has started lower down the order in some races this year and still finished on the podium, so I won’t take anything for granted." The race weekend schedule is as follows: - Saturday, September 26 – 7:55 am: F2 Feature Race 2 - 10:30 am: Grand Prix build‑up - 12:00 pm: THE AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX (live on Sky Sports Main Event) - 2:00 pm: Chequered flag and post‑race reaction - 3:00 pm: Ted’s Notebook analysis Fans can stream the action flexibly via the Sky Sports app, with a recommended Chrome browser for the best video player experience. The broadcast is also available through NOW, offering a contract‑free, cancel‑anytime option for viewers who prefer a more flexible subscription model.