George Russell destroyed the competition in qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as he secured pole position by 0.837s ahead of Charles Leclerc.
It was the biggest pole position margin of the F1 2026 season.
Audi suffers double Q1 elimination in heavily updated R26
The FIA announced a few minutes before Q1 that the start had been delayed due to ‘track cleaning’ after a few crashes in the earlier Formula 2 feature race.
With the session scheduled to get underway at 16:04 local time, Valtteri Bottas was at the front of the queue in the pit lane – some drivers eager to get out given the risk of a red flag, others biding their time for the slipstream.
Max Verstappen was the first of the potential pole-sitters out on track, followed by George Russell, Kimi Antonelli, Isack Hadjar, the Ferraris and the McLaren teammates.
Lance Stroll, starting at the back of the grid due to an engine penalty, brought out the first – but very unlikely to be the last – yellow flag of Q1 as he locked up into Turn 7.
Sergio Perez set the first competitive time with a 1:46.6, but that was blitzed minutes later when Hadjar posted a 1:44.7. Lewis Hamilton was second ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri. Such was the slipstream, Piastri was eight-tenths up on Lando Norris, who did not get a tow on his lap.
Alex Albon returned to the Williams garage without a competitive time on the board. He was 18s off the pace.
Antonelli reported that he “hit the wall” at Turn 1, the championship leader having whacked the inside wall. He was slowly touring around the circuit as he limped back to the pits. He was told: “Park up, we are not going to fix that”.
His teammate Russell went quickest, four-tenths ahead of Verstappen, with Hadjar a further tenth off the pace.
Alex Albon and Arvid Lindblad were on the cusp of the drop zone, with Oliver Bearman and Nico Hulkenberg, driving the heavily updated R26, the first two drivers at risk of being eliminated.
Bearman improved to push Lindblad into the drop zone, but the Racing Bulls driver saved himself with the 14th-fastest time, while Carlos Sainz jumped up to 11th.
Eliminated: Gabriel Bortoleto, Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll
F1 2026: The season’s winners and losers
The results of the F1 2026 championship
The F1 2026 Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings
Kimi Antonelli officially out in Q2 after earlier crash
As the remaining 15 drivers took to the track for their first flying laps, with Antonelli unable to take his place in Q2, Arvid Lindblad found himself in the Turn 4 run-off after being caught out by a gust of wind.
With the track temperature falling, all the drivers opted for a second preparation lap.
Sainz set the first competitive benchmark, a 1:44.849, but fell to eighth as his rivals made their marks. Russell was quickest with a 1:43.6, ahead of Leclerc and Lando Norris.
The Alpine teammates were the last drivers to set times, with Franco Colapinto coming out ahead of Pierre Gasly in formation for the slipstream. Gasly slotted in ahead of Verstappen in seventh place, but his teammate was only 11th.
Verstappen improved to second with the fastest middle sector putting the Red Bull driver out of trouble. The same could not be said for his teammate as Hadjar went into the run-off area at Turn 15. He was, however, sitting P4 on the timesheet.
Liam Lawson’s final attempt wasn’t enough to get him out of the drop zone, while Esteban Ocon had a moment and wasn’t able to progress. A late lap put Colapinto into the top ten, relegating Bearman.
Eliminated: Oliver Bearman, Liam Lawson, Alex Albon, Esteban Ocon, Arvid Lindblad, Kimi Antonelli.
George Russell on pole position for the Azerbiajan GP
Russell led the remaining 10 drivers out as the fight for pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix began.
Norris and his race engineer Will Joseph were being cryptic with the Briton’s run plan as the Briton asked Joseph about it. The engineer replied: “Or that’s what we want people to believe…” But perhaps it confused Norris as well. He replied: “Yes… or am I?”
Russell set the opening benchmark time, a 1:43.7, but Norris and then Piastri were both faster. P1 was down to a 1:43.5 with the Australian on provisional pole.
Russell’s second flying lap was half a second up on Piastri, with Leclerc slotting in between. Hamilton’s first hot lap was only good enough for seventh.
The Mercedes driver continued to find pace, purple in the first sector, the second and the third. He beat his previous best by half a second.
Russell claimed pole position by 0.837s ahead of Leclerc with Piastri third. Verstappen was only eighth as he had to back off due to yellow flags when Norris went off the track.
Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Qualifying Top Ten
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:42.526
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:43.363
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:43.364
4 Isack Hadjar Red Bull 1:43.500
5 Lando Norris McLaren 1:43.672
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:43.858
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:44.047
8 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:44.081
9 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:44.566
10 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:44.963
The full results from Qualifying at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
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