Baku, September 25, AZERTAC
George Russell clinched his fifth pole position of the 2026 season in a remarkably competitive Qualifying hour for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with the Briton finding himself as the lone Mercedes driver after Kimi Antonelli crashed out of Q1.
Oscar Piastri was just 0.001s off the Monegasque in third place, leading Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and the second McLaren of Lando Norris, who suffered a lock-up on his final lap that prevented him from finding more time.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton settled for P6 ahead of Pierre Gasly, Max Verstappen and Williams’ Carlos Sainz, maximising the team’s extensive upgrade package. Franco Colapinto rounded out the top 10 for Alpine after struggling to set a representative lap.
Haas’ Ollie Bearman narrowly missed out on a spot in Q3 and wound up P11 ahead of Liam Lawson and Alex Albon, who was not best pleased after his Williams team mate failed to support him with a tow.
Esteban Ocon took 14th place in front of Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad, whose session was affected by mistakes, as Antonelli’s session-ending contact with the wall at Turn 1 left him far behind his frontrunning rivals in P16.
Despite bringing major upgrades to the Baku City Circuit, both Audi drivers exited in Q1, led by Gabriel Bortoleto in P17 while Nico Hulkenberg finished just behind in P18.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was next after enduring a big lock-up that forced him to escape onto a run-off area, but a hefty grid penalty for new power unit components will relegate him and his team mate Lance Stroll to the back row.
That will promote the Cadillac pair of Sergio Perez – a former race winner here – and Valtteri Bottas to P19 and P20 respectively on tomorrow's grid, with Aston Martin bringing up the rear.