George Russell roars to dominant Azerbaijan pole after surprise Kimi Antonelli accident

George Russell roared to a dominant Azerbaijan Grand Prix pole position as Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli will only start in 16th following an accident. 

Russell, dominant throughout the weekend thus far and has only failed to lead FP3, posted a 1:42.526 and was 0.837s clear of Charles Leclerc in second place - the largest pole margin of the season. 

That's in contrast to Antonelli, who clipped a wall in Q1, and will be 16th on the grid in Baku as Russell looks to keep his faint title hopes alive and eat into Antonelli's 81-point advantage.

Oscar Piastri was third for McLaren ahead of Isack Hadjar on the second row, as Hadjar beat Max Verstappen, whose final lap was ruined by yellow flags for a Lando Norris lock-up, as Lewis Hamilton went five-tenths slower than Leclerc for sixth. 

Norris will start fifth, Hamilton sixth, Pierre Gasly seventh, and the Norris-affected Verstappen in eighth.  

After the initial runs in Q3, it was Piastri who held pole ahead of Norris, as Russell took third, and three-tenths slower than his Q2 time.

However, as the tyres were holding on, Russell went for another lap and cemented his place at the top of the order - having topped all three segments.

A 1:42.526 was 0.837s faster than Leclerc in second and 0.838s faster than Piastri in third as Hadjar out-qualified Verstappen by sixth-tenths on his return to Red Bull. 

Norris was fifth ahead of Hamilton, with Gasly ahead of Verstappen, who found himself 1.555s down on the pace, after initially being within striking distance Russell throughout the session. 

However, the Dutch driver could not set a final, true lap time after Norris locked up and ran wide at Turn 3 on his own final lap, with the smoke and yellow flags causing Verstappen to need to lift off and abort.

The session was rounded out by Carlos Sainz in ninth in Williams' first Q3 appearance of the season, but he is facing a yellow flag investigation, whilst Franco Colapinto took 10th. 

Colapinto denies Bearman

In Q2, the main talking point was Colapinto just getting through at the death to steal a Q3 berth from Oliver Bearman and Haas.

With the final lap of the session, Colapinto roared through, less than a tenth clear of Bearman's Haas to make it a double Alpine Q3 appearance. 

Racing Bulls, which have struggled for pace in Baku suffered a double exit with Liam Lawson ahead of Arvid Lindblad on his return, as they took 12th and 15th, respectively. 

The others to fall in the segment were Alex Albon in the upgraded Williams in 13th and Esteban Ocon in 14th for Haas. 

Antonelli out but through

The big story in Q1 was the elimination of Antonelli, who struck the wall at Turn 1 on a flying lap attempt. 

The left-front was destroyed as the Mercedes did a similar offence to Albon in 2025, as Antonelli desperately tried to bring the car home.

He was ultimately told by race engineer Peter Bonnington to park the car, which he did at Turn 7, although he did make it through to Q2 in 15th place, but took no part in the session.

Cadillac's hopes of a first Q2 slot were dashed as Sergio Perez failed to make it through, and was out-qualified on the road by Fernando Alonso, but Alonso will start at the back, as both Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas also fell. 

Audi suffered its first double Q1 elimination of the season with Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg also falling.