2026 Azerbaijan GP FP2: Russell completes Baku practice sweep

George Russell underlined Mercedes’ early strength at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix by completing a clean sweep of Thursday practice, setting the fastest time in FP2 ahead of team-mate Kimi Antonelli and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

After leading the opening session earlier in the day, Russell lowered the benchmark to a 1m 43.347s during a sequence of qualifying-style runs on Pirelli’s soft tyre. His lap put him 0.552s clear of 2026 F1 World Championship leader Antonelli, with Verstappen a further three tenths behind in third.

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There was no shortage of early activity when the pit-lane light turned green at 4pm local time. The sun was beginning to drop over the Baku City Circuit, but conditions remained demanding, with the air temperature still at a warm 30 degrees Celsius.

2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix FP2 Results

2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix FP2, 24th September 2026

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:43.347	24
2	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+0.552s	16
3	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+0.827s	23
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+1.126s	24
5	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+1.318s	23
6	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	+1.484s	22
7	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+1.496s	23
8	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+1.510s	22
9	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	+1.521s	21
10	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	+1.943s	25
11	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+2.132s	23
12	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+2.334s	25
13	11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	+2.413s	23
14	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	+2.447s	24
15	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	+2.507s	20
16	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	+2.776s	24
17	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+2.874s	22
18	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	+3.044s	4
19	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	+3.390s	26
20	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	+3.454s	10
21	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+4.056s	24
22	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+4.542s	9

Most of the field began the session on either the medium or hard compound, using the opening runs to gather longer-run data and understand how the track had evolved since FP1. Verstappen established the initial reference with a 1m 45.115s, although his speed did not disguise his unhappiness with the Red Bull’s behaviour.

The four-time World Champion reported a poor ride over Baku’s uneven street surface and soon offered a more detailed diagnosis over the radio.

“I’m constantly counter-steering because my rear axle is coming off the ground,” Verstappen told his team.

Despite those complaints, he improved to a 1m 44.492s on the medium tyre, edging a few hundredths ahead of Russell on the same compound.

Behind the leading pair, Lando Norris moved into third ahead of Lewis Hamilton, the returning Isack Hadjar, Charles Leclerc and Norris’ McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri.

McLaren’s running carried an unusual visual detail after the floor problems that had compromised its opening session. Both cars were sent out with plastic cable ties forming part of a makeshift solution to the FP1 floorboard issues as the team attempted to recover lost mileage.

The session was brought to an abrupt halt just under 20 minutes after it began when Arvid Lindblad crashed at Baku’s notoriously narrow Turn 8-9 castle section. The Racing Bulls rookie clipped the wall while pushing through the sequence and came to rest with substantial damage along the right-hand side of his car.

“I’m really sorry,” Lindblad said over the radio. “I think I literally clipped it by like a millimetre.”

It was the second successive Grand Prix weekend in which the British driver had crashed during FP2, following his accident in Madrid. Lindblad was collected by the Medical Car and returned to the paddock while marshals recovered the damaged Racing Bulls and cleared the circuit.

The red-flag interruption lasted until 4.29pm local time. Once the track reopened, attention shifted towards soft-tyre qualifying simulations and the first meaningful indication of the weekend’s one-lap competitive order.

The restart brought almost immediate trouble for Ollie Bearman. The Haas driver lost power and coasted into an escape road, where he was able to park safely and minimise the work required from the marshals.

“My engine switched off and just… broke,” Bearman sighed over the radio, his session over before he could take part in the decisive soft-tyre runs.

With Lindblad and Bearman watching from the sidelines, Russell seized control of the timesheets. His first serious effort on the soft compound produced a 1m 43.759s, approximately four tenths faster than Verstappen, while Leclerc, Hamilton and Antonelli initially remained close to a second away.

Russell found another sizeable gain on his next sequence, improving by more than four tenths to record the session-leading 1m 43.347s. The lap confirmed his place at the top of the order and continued an assured opening day for Mercedes.

Antonelli then delivered his own major improvement, setting a 1m 43.899s to climb into second. It was a valuable recovery for the Italian after a hydraulic issue had ended his FP1 programme after only 25 minutes.

His lap pushed Verstappen down to third, leaving Mercedes with a one-two at the end of Thursday’s final session. Verstappen’s position kept Red Bull in the leading group, although his earlier ride complaints gave the team a clear area to address overnight.

Leclerc finished fourth for Ferrari, ahead of team-mate Hamilton in fifth. Norris placed the leading McLaren sixth after the team’s improvised floor repairs, while Pierre Gasly delivered an encouraging seventh-fastest time for Alpine.

Piastri ended the hour eighth in the second McLaren, with Hadjar ninth on his return to action following three rounds out with a wrist injury. Esteban Ocon completed the top 10 for Haas.

Franco Colapinto placed his Alpine 11th, ahead of Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson in 12th. Lawson’s session included a frustrated radio message after he encountered a slow-moving Hamilton in the final sector during one of his laps.

Sergio Perez took 13th for Cadillac, followed by the two Audis of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg in 14th and 15th. Audi continued working through a substantial package of updates across its two cars.

Williams occupied the next two positions with Alex Albon 16th and Carlos Sainz 17th as the team gathered more information on its own major upgrade package. Sainz’s afternoon offered more productive running after a rear-brake fire had interrupted his FP1 programme.

Lindblad was classified 18th on the strength of the laps he completed before his crash. Valtteri Bottas followed in 19th for Cadillac, with the sidelined Bearman in 20th.

Aston Martin filled the final two places. Fernando Alonso’s running was restricted by a suspected oil leak, leaving him ahead only of team-mate Lance Stroll at the bottom of the order.

Russell therefore ended the first day in Baku as the driver to beat, topping both sessions and building a sizeable advantage in FP2. Mercedes also recovered Antonelli to second after his earlier hydraulic failure, while Verstappen, Ferrari and McLaren were left with different areas to refine before qualifying.

Teams will now examine Thursday’s data and work through their setup changes overnight. The cars return to the Baku City Circuit for the third and final practice session at 12.30pm local time on Friday, the last opportunity to make on-track preparations before qualifying.