Fraser MasefieldGeorge Russell will start from pole position for the Azerbaijan GP from Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri after championship leader Kimi Antonelli made a mistake in Q1 that put him out of the session.
Russell has looked the driver to beat since free practice and a supreme effort of 1m42.526 put a full 0.837s ahead of the Ferrari on the front row – the largest pole gap since Canada in 2023.
It means that the Italian will once again have it all to do from 16th on the grid although he has proven that to be achievable before as he did in Madrid.
The moment Kimi Antonelli crashed out of qualifying in Baku! 😮 pic.twitter.com/K8DgRGqwNT
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) September 25, 2026
Isack Hadjar lines up alongside Piastri on the second row ahead of Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly.
Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Franco Colapinto round out the top ten.
“It’s been a while. So it definitely feels good. Probably the biggest margin of my whole career, even including F2, F3 days. So the lap felt really sweet,” commented Russell after securing his 12th pole in F1.
Career pole No. 12 🙌#F1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/FuIGLrxdyB
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 25, 2026
“The car’s been feeling great this weekend and on a track like this, when you can hook it up like that, it feels really amazing.
“I was feeling good. To be honest, I think Max has been very fast this weekend.
WHAT A LAP GEORGE!!! 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/H0OsZYfQ9m
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“I don’t know what happened to him at the end. Maybe I think with the yellow flag of Lando, he didn’t get that last chance.”
Russell may not have it all his own way on Sunday with old karting rival Leclerc eager to put the often fast starting Ferrari into the lead come Turn 1.
“Honestly, it was quite a good lap,” said Leclerc afterwards. “Lewis was in front maybe three, four seconds, I think and I managed to do a good lap at the end.
“But when I see the gap to George, maybe the lap wasn’t good enough.
“We’ve been on the back foot all weekend but this morning I had a little bit more hope.
“So, yes, I think in terms of position, that’s where we expect it to be, but in terms of gap, it’s a lot more than what we expected.”
An uncharacteristic error from Antonelli saw him clip the wall and wreck his front left suspension, another fight from the rear of the field will be the order of the day for Saturday’s race.
“I think we’re in a great place to go for a win, but of course this is Baku and anything can happen,” added Russell.
Baku delivered another epic qualifying 🤩#F1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/Y25n6KrH7Y
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 25, 2026
“Of course, Charles is going to be motivated to probably throw one down the inside of turn one, but whatever happened, I feel confident that we can go for a win.”
QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION
Russell quickest by an impressive eight tenths ⏱️#F1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/UXrbS9t0Qe
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 25, 2026
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Craig Scarborough