2026 Azerbaijan GP FP1: Russell sets the pace in Baku

George Russell began the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend on top, beating Max Verstappen to the fastest time in an incident-packed opening practice session as 2026 F1 World Championship leader Kimi Antonelli lost more than half of the hour to a hydraulic problem.

Russell produced a 1m 45.387s to finish exactly four tenths clear of Verstappen around the demanding Baku City Circuit. Charles Leclerc was only another 0.004s behind in third, with Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton completing a closely matched leading quartet.

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The pit lane opened at 12.30pm local time, prompting an immediate rush onto a Baku street surface that was dusty, slippery and short on grip. With the entire race weekend moved forward by one day, Thursday’s opening session offered the drivers their first opportunity to assess the circuit before Friday qualifying and Saturday’s Grand Prix.

2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix FP1 Results

2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix FP1, 24th September 2026

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:45.387	24
2	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+0.400s	22
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.404s	25
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+0.437s	25
5	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+0.878s	9
6	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+1.011s	17
7	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+1.053s	26
8	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	+1.214s	23
9	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	+1.237s	19
10	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	+1.301s	21
11	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	+1.484s	22
12	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+1.506s	22
13	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	+1.552s	29
14	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	+1.594s	14
15	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	+1.607s	22
16	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+1.656s	22
17	11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	+1.866s	24
18	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+2.136s	23
19	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+2.448s	24
20	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	+2.486s	8
21	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+3.160s	22
22	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	+3.928s	22

Early running quickly exposed several problems. Isack Hadjar, returning to the Red Bull cockpit after missing three rounds with a wrist injury, reported that his brakes were pulling the car to one side. Oscar Piastri complained of vibrations in his McLaren, while Carlos Sainz encountered a more dramatic braking issue aboard his heavily updated Williams.

Sainz had completed only 15 minutes of the session when he returned to the pits with flames visible around the rear brakes. Williams was able to bring the situation under control, but the incident interrupted a crucial period of evaluation for the team’s latest upgrade package.

As rubber went down and confidence increased, the lap times began to fall. Antonelli moved to the head of the order approaching the 25-minute mark, recording a 1m 46.265s on Pirelli’s hard compound and underlining Mercedes’ early pace.

The championship leader was also among the first drivers to switch onto the soft tyre, but he never completed a flying lap on it. Antonelli stopped at Turn 7 during his out-lap and informed Mercedes over the radio that he had suffered a hydraulic issue.

His stranded W17 triggered the first Virtual Safety Car of the session while marshals recovered it. Antonelli would take no further part in FP1, bringing his running to an end after only 25 minutes and denying him the chance to join the late-session qualifying simulations.

Yellow flags returned soon afterwards when two of the leading runners tested Baku’s limited margins. Verstappen ran into the Turn 1 escape road, while Russell overshot at Turn 3. Both avoided contact with the barriers, rejoined safely and were soon back at full speed.

Verstappen became the first driver to break through the 1m 46s barrier, setting a 1m 45.787s on the red-walled soft tyre. Russell then responded with the decisive lap of the hour, using a tow along Baku’s enormous main straight to post his 1m 45.387s benchmark.

The final five minutes brought a second Virtual Safety Car and two separate incidents. Arvid Lindblad needed to reverse out of the Turn 7 run-off area, while Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi stopped at the exit of Turn 4 at almost the same time and had to be moved behind the barrier.

Those interruptions ensured Russell’s effort remained unbeaten when the chequered flag fell. Verstappen held second by the narrowest of margins, finishing just four thousandths of a second ahead of Leclerc.

Ferrari’s early performance carried an important caveat: Leclerc and fourth-placed Hamilton recorded their best laps on the medium compound, rather than the softer tyre used by Russell and Verstappen. Hamilton ended the session 0.437s away from the lead, suggesting Ferrari had opened the weekend with competitive underlying pace.

Despite completing less than half the session, Antonelli’s earlier hard-tyre lap was still quick enough for fifth. Piastri took sixth after McLaren repaired the issues affecting his car, although his lost track time contributed to a difficult opening hour for the team.

Liam Lawson led Racing Bulls team-mate Lindblad in seventh and eighth. Esteban Ocon placed his Haas ninth, with Gabriel Bortoleto completing the top 10 for Audi.

Hulkenberg was classified 11th despite his late stoppage. Sainz recovered from his rear-brake fire to take 12th, one place ahead of Williams team-mate Alex Albon.

Lando Norris could manage only 14th after an issue kept him in the garage for most of the session, compounding McLaren’s disrupted start in Azerbaijan. Ollie Bearman followed in 15th for Haas, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

Sergio Perez was 17th for Cadillac, with Franco Colapinto’s Alpine and Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin occupying 18th and 19th respectively.

Hadjar ended his comeback session in 20th after a power-unit issue further restricted his running. Lance Stroll was 21st in the second Aston Martin, while Valtteri Bottas completed the 22-car order for Cadillac.

Russell therefore leaves FP1 with the headline time, but Baku’s opening hour raised as many questions as it answered. Mercedes showed speed but lost crucial mileage with Antonelli, Ferrari produced encouraging pace on the medium tyre, Verstappen remained firmly in contention and McLaren faces work to recover from a fragmented start to the weekend.