Russell Fastest, Antonelli Suffers Setback at Baku Weekend Start

George Russell kicked off the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend in the best possible fashion, setting the fastest time in the first free practice session on the Baku street circuit.

Along the shores of the Caspian Sea, the Mercedes driver clocked a 1:45.387 on Pirelli's soft tires, also benefiting from a slipstream behind Fernando Alonso on the long, two-kilometer start-finish straight. The Briton's time was 0.400 seconds quicker than Max Verstappen, whose best lap was also set on soft slicks.

Charles Leclerc completed the top three, 0.404 seconds adrift, while Lewis Hamilton finished fourth, 0.437 seconds behind. However, both Leclerc and Hamilton set their best laps on medium-compound tires, not the softs used by Russell and Verstappen.

Championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli rounded out the top five, despite losing over half an hour of preparation time. The Italian had just ventured onto the track with soft tires shortly before the session's midpoint but stopped in the run-off area at Turn 7. Radio communication between him and his race engineer, Peter Bonnington, indicated a loss of pressure in Antonelli's car's hydraulic system.

Oscar Piastri followed Antonelli in sixth place, also losing valuable track time due to damage to his car that McLaren mechanics had to repair. World Champion Lando Norris faced similar issues, finishing a distant 14th.

Behind Piastri, the top 10 at the end of the first hour of practice in Baku included Liam Lawson, returning to Racing Bulls after three races with Red Bull, his teammate Arvid Lindblad, and Gabriel Bortoleto. In his Formula 1 comeback, Isack Hadjar finished a mere 20th, limited to just eight laps due to a power unit issue in his Red Bull.

Minutes before the session concluded, Lindblad and Nico Hülkenberg stopped almost simultaneously in different parts of the track. Lindblad initially pulled into the run-off area at Turn 7 but, after a delay of over a minute, managed to rejoin the session. Hülkenberg was not as fortunate; the German driver parked between Turns 4 and 5, and his car was subsequently towed behind the barriers by marshals.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend, the 15th round of the 2026 Formula 1 season, will continue at 3:00 PM Bulgarian time with the second free practice session on the streets of Baku.