George Russell emerged as the quickest driver in the opening practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, posting the fastest lap despite the challenging street circuit in Baku. His performance came as championship leader Kimi Antonelli was forced to bring his car to a halt after encountering a hydraulic failure, a setback that cost the Italian a substantial amount of track time.
Russell, who currently trails Antonelli by 81 points in the Drivers' Championship, knows he must start narrowing the gap if he hopes to keep his title hopes alive. The Mercedes driver capitalized on a powerful slipstream from fellow competitor Fernando Alonso on his best lap, allowing him to edge out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and both Ferrari entries by roughly four tenths of a second. Even before that decisive lap, Russell had already demonstrated impressive pace throughout the session, signalling that Mercedes may have found a competitive rhythm on the narrow, high‑speed Baku layout. Antonelli’s day was dramatically interrupted when a hydraulic issue forced his car to stop on the track, costing him approximately 35 minutes of valuable running.
The interruption means the Italian will head into the second practice session on Thursday afternoon with a deficit in data and confidence. Although Antonelli has secured victories in the last two races, Baku is notorious for its unforgiving nature, often producing unexpected drama that can quickly erode even the largest points leads. With an 81‑point advantage over Russell and a margin of more than 100 points ahead of both Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris, any reliability hiccup could dramatically reshape the championship landscape. "Regarding Kimi’s performance, FP1 is generally the least indicative session, so in a way that’s a relief," noted Sky Sports F1 analyst Jamie Chadwick.
"The bigger story is why the problem occurred. We’ve heard reliability concerns about Mercedes earlier in the weekend, but the team seemed to have sorted those issues over the past few races. This new failure will undoubtedly become a focal point for the team moving forward." Hamilton and Charles Leclerc each set their best times on the medium‑compound tyres, positioning themselves as potential front‑runners for Friday’s qualifying and the race on Saturday.
Red Bull, meanwhile, introduced a suite of fresh components for Baku, including an updated floor, revised side‑pods and new mirror designs. Verstappen appeared particularly quick on the hard tyres early in the session, suggesting that the Austrian could be a serious contender despite the Mercedes‑Ferrari dominance displayed by Russell’s slipstream‑assisted lap.
Beyond the headline‑making performances, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris found themselves in sixth and fourteenth place respectively, each more than a second off Russell’s benchmark despite having received aerodynamic upgrades. These upgrades are primarily geared toward high‑speed, non‑street circuits, meaning the team will need to extract further performance in the remaining practice outings to fully exploit their potential.
At one stage, Piastri believed he had sustained damage to his car, but the team’s engineers reported no visible issues. Norris, on the other hand, has yet to reveal his true speed, leaving McLaren hopeful that the British driver can improve his lap times once the team fine‑tunes the setup. Red Bull’s young talent Isack Hadjar, confirmed to remain with the team through 2027, returned to the track for the first time since July after missing three consecutive race weekends due to a wrist injury. Unfortunately, his comeback was hampered by an engine problem that cost him roughly 30 minutes of running.
This development paved the way for Liam Lawson to step into the Racing Bulls line‑up, where he launched from seventh on the grid, with teammate Arvid Lindblad occupying eighth. Further down the order, Esteban Ocon—who faces an uncertain future with Haas as the team is expected to release him for the 2027 season—finished ninth, while Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto secured tenth place. Williams driver Carlos Sainz experienced a minor brake fire early in the session, but the incident resulted in only a brief loss of track time, especially significant given the team’s introduction of a substantial upgrade package for the weekend. The schedule for the remainder of the weekend is packed with action.
Thursday, September 24, features F2 qualifying at 10:55 am, a team‑bosses press conference at noon, and the second practice session for the Azerbaijan GP beginning at 1 pm, followed by The F1 Show at 2:15 pm. Friday, September 25, includes the F2 sprint at 5:10 am, the third practice session at 9:15 am, the F2 feature race at 11:10 am, and a build‑up to qualifying at 12:30 pm, with the actual qualifying session slated for 1 pm. Saturday, September 26, sees the second F2 feature race at 7:55 am, a Grand Prix build‑up at 10:30 am, and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix itself commencing at noon, followed by post‑race analysis and commentary throughout the afternoon. All sessions will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, with additional coverage available via Sky Sports Main Event.
Viewers are advised to use the Chrome browser for the most accessible video player experience. The 2026 Formula 1 season continues to unfold across a triple‑header of races, with the Baku event offering a critical opportunity for drivers and teams to either consolidate their positions or mount a comeback in the tightly contested championship battle.