George Russell emerged as the quickest driver in the opening practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, while championship frontrunner Kimi Antonelli was forced to halt his run after encountering a hydraulic malfunction on the track. Russell, who currently trails Antonelli by 81 points in the Drivers' Championship, must begin to close the gap with his teammate if he hopes to keep the title fight alive and avoid an early conclusion to the season.
His strong start in Baku suggests he is ready to make that push. The Mercedes driver benefited from a substantial slipstream provided by Fernando Alonso on his fastest lap, allowing him to edge out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and both Ferraris by roughly four tenths of a second. Even before that decisive lap, Russell displayed impressive pace throughout the session, consistently posting times that kept him at the forefront of the field. Antonelli’s day was disrupted when a hydraulic issue forced him to stop his car, costing him approximately 35 minutes of valuable track time.
This setback means he will start the second practice session on Thursday at 13:00 GMT at a disadvantage, needing to recover lost time while his rivals continue to fine‑tune their setups. The Italian, who has claimed victory in the previous two races, knows that Baku is one of the most demanding circuits on the calendar, often producing unexpected drama. Consequently, he remains cautious about how his 81‑point lead over Russell—and his more than 100‑point cushion ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris—might be eroded. "Regarding Kimi’s performance, FP1 is the least representative session, so that’s actually a bit of a blessing," remarked Sky Sports F1 analyst Jamie Chadwick.
"The bigger question is why the issue occurred. We knew reliability had been a hot topic for Mercedes earlier in the weekend; they’ve seemed to improve over the last few races, but this will be the biggest concern moving forward." Hamilton and Charles Leclerc posted their best times on the medium‑compound tyres, indicating they will be aiming for a strong qualifying performance on Friday and a realistic shot at race victory on Saturday afternoon. Red Bull, meanwhile, introduced several new components for the Baku weekend, including a revised floor, updated sidepods, and redesigned mirrors. Verstappen appeared particularly quick on the hard tyres early in the session, hinting that the team’s aerodynamic upgrades could keep them in contention for the front of the grid.
If you strip away the advantage Russell gained from Alonso’s slipstream on his quickest lap, the data suggests that Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari are all poised to battle for the top positions. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris qualified sixth and 14th respectively, both more than a second off Russell’s best time despite having received aerodynamic upgrades. These upgrades are expected to deliver greater benefits on high‑speed, non‑street circuits, and the team will have ample opportunity to extract performance from them over the remaining practice sessions.
At one point during the session, 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 showcase his true speed, leaving his weekend performance still uncertain. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, who has secured a contract to remain with the team through 2027, returned to the track for the first time since July after missing the previous three race weekends due to a wrist injury.
Unfortunately, he also lost around 30 minutes of running because of an engine problem, limiting his ability to gather data. This development opened the door for Liam Lawson to step back into the Racing Bulls lineup, where he launched from seventh on the grid, with teammate Arvid Lindblad close behind in eighth. Esteban Ocon, whose future with Haas looks precarious as the team is expected to part ways with him next season, managed to finish ninth in the session, while Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto secured tenth place.
Williams driver Carlos Sainz experienced a minor brake fire early on, but the incident cost him little time, and the team introduced a significant upgrade package that could prove valuable later in the weekend. The schedule for the remainder of the weekend is packed: Thursday, September 24, includes F2 qualifying at 10:55, the Team Bosses’ press conference at 12:00, the second practice session for the Azerbaijan GP starting at 13:00, and the F1 Show at 14:15. Friday, September 25, features the F2 sprint at 5:10, the third practice session for the GP at 9:15 (with the session itself commencing at 9:30), the F2 feature race at 11:10, and the build‑up to GP qualifying at 12:30, followed by the actual qualifying at 13:00 and Ted’s Qualifying Notebook at 15:00.
Saturday, September 26, sees the second F2 feature race at 7:55, the GP build‑up at 10:30, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix itself at 12:00, the chequered‑flag reaction at 14:00, and Ted’s Notebook at 15:00. All events will also be streamed live on Sky Sports Main Event.
The 2026 Formula 1 season continues to unfold live on Sky Sports F1 this week, with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix kicking off a triple‑header of races. The Baku race is scheduled for Saturday at midday, and fans can stream the action via Sky Sports with NOW – a contract‑free service that can be cancelled at any time.