Oscar Piastri issues 'no hope' verdict to George Russell crushing

Oscar Piastri has admitted McLaren stood no chance of beating George Russell to pole position in Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying, despite briefly topping the times in Q3.

Russell claimed pole at the Baku City Circuit with a lap of 1:42.526, comfortably clear of the field. 

Piastri ended up third, sandwiched between Charles Leclerc's Ferrari in second and Isack Hadjar's Red Bull in fourth, with team-mate Lando Norris fifth after struggling to find the same rhythm.

The gap to Russell told its own story. Piastri's best effort of 1:43.364 left him more than eight tenths adrift of the Mercedes driver, a margin that underlined just how dominant the Brackley-based squad's pace advantage had been through the session.

McLaren had arrived in Baku hoping a new aerodynamic package would sharpen its low-drag efficiency down the circuit's long straights, but the Woking-based squad again found itself chasing Mercedes' rhythm when it mattered most.

Piastri, though, was pleasantly surprised by how the session unfolded for his team.

Discussing his qualifying performance, Piastri said: "It was good. Qualifying we found a bit of pace."

"It's not the first time that has happened to us this year. We seem like we're a bit on the back foot in practice and come out in qualifying and find that bit extra."

"I was pretty surprised to see us one-two after that first lap of Q3 but, unfortunately, we had no hope against George."

"Happy with how the weekend has gone so far. Very happy to be back in the top three."