George Russell took pole for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Friday, September 25, with a 1m 42.526s lap, while Mercedes teammate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli crashed out in Q1 at the Baku City Circuit.
Russell beat Ferrari's Charles Leclerc by 0.837s to secure his fifth pole of the 2026 Formula 1 season. McLaren's Oscar Piastri claimed third, one thousandth behind Leclerc.
Russell pulls away in Q3
Russell improved with each lap in the final qualifying segment. His opening run left him around four tenths clear of Leclerc, and his last attempt stretched the gap beyond eight tenths.
Leclerc set a 1m 43.363s to secure second, with Piastri next on a 1m 43.364s. Isack Hadjar qualified fourth for Red Bull in his first qualifying session since the Hungarian Grand Prix, recording a 1m 43.500s.
Lando Norris rounded out the top five after locking up at Turn 3 on his final lap. The McLaren driver posted a 1m 43.672s, while Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton took sixth.
Russell had already led Q1 and Q2.
Antonelli strikes Turn 1 wall
Antonelli's qualifying ended when he clipped the inside wall at Turn 1 in Q1, damaging his Mercedes suspension. He tried to make it back to the pits, but the team told him to stop in a safe position because there wasn't enough time to repair the car for another run.
The crash left Antonelli 16th in the qualifying classification. He arrived in Baku as the drivers' championship leader after winning the Italian and Spanish Grands Prix earlier in September.
Antonelli had already endured a disrupted start to the event. A hydraulic issue kept him out of first practice on Thursday, September 24, before Mercedes replaced his power unit following fire damage. He rebounded to finish second behind Russell in the next session, then placed fourth in final practice on Friday.
Verstappen falls to eighth
Max Verstappen led final practice with a 1m 43.922s and entered qualifying as one of Russell's closest challengers. The Red Bull driver briefly topped Q1, but finished Q3 in eighth.
Verstappen reported problems with the car's ride during the opening segment, telling his team: “is bottoming like crazy on the front, I can’t brake”. Yellow flags triggered by Norris' Turn 3 lockup then disrupted the final Q3 runs.
Pierre Gasly qualified seventh for Alpine, slotting between Hamilton and Verstappen. Carlos Sainz took ninth as Williams reached Q3 for the first time in 2026 after introducing an extensive upgrade package in Baku. Franco Colapinto completed the top 10 in the other Alpine.
Bearman heads Q2 eliminations
Ollie Bearman missed Q3 and qualified 11th for Haas, ahead of Liam Lawson and Williams driver Alex Albon. Esteban Ocon finished 14th, while mistakes interrupted Arvid Lindblad's session and left him 15th.
Both Audi drivers went out in Q1. Gabriel Bortoleto qualified 17th, with Nico Hulkenberg 18th despite the team bringing upgrades to Azerbaijan.
Fernando Alonso ended up 19th after a heavy lockup carried his Aston Martin into a runoff area. Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll filled the final three places in the qualifying classification.
Penalties alter the back row
Alonso and Stroll are set to start from the back row due to penalties for new power unit components. Those demotions move Cadillac teammates Perez and Bottas up from 20th and 21st in the qualifying classification.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is scheduled for Saturday, September 26, with Russell alongside Leclerc on the front row and Antonelli starting his recovery from 16th.
