Russell Storms to Pole in Baku by the Biggest Margin of the Season
George Russell's dominant weekend continued into FP3, though he didn't quite make it a clean sweep of Friday and Saturday practice. Verstappen pipped him by just 0.099s late on, with Hamilton third and Gasly a strong fifth for Alpine. Stroll's session ended early when he clipped the wall and parked up, initially fearing a puncture on a track long enough to make limping back to the pits impractical, though both Aston Martins were already resigned to starting from the back regardless given their grid penalties.
Qualifying began under a delay while marshals cleared debris from an earlier Formula 2 accident, and the drama started almost immediately once it did. Antonelli crashed on his second Q1 lap, clipping the wall hard enough to damage a track rod and end his session there and then, a rare mistake in what had otherwise been a tidy season for the championship leader, and one that left him starting 16th.
Q2 brought a landmark moment for Williams, with Carlos Sainz reaching Q3 for the team for the first time all season on the back of their new, lighter chassis. Both Haas cars went out, Bearman missing the cut by just 0.092s, and Racing Bulls lost both cars too despite arriving in Baku with high hopes for the track. Albon and Antonelli rounded out the Q2 eliminations.
Q3 turned into a Russell masterclass. McLaren briefly had both cars ahead of him through the session as Piastri and Norris turned the wick up, but Russell's final lap, a 1m 42.526s, settled the matter emphatically. He took pole 0.837 seconds clear of Leclerc in second, the biggest gap to pole of the season so far. Piastri completed the front two rows in third, with Hadjar an impressive fourth on his second weekend back from injury, ahead of Norris and Hamilton.
Verstappen's Friday and FP3 pace didn't carry through to Qualifying, the Red Bull driver ending up eighth after a lap he clearly wasn't happy with, sandwiched by Gasly ahead and Sainz and Colapinto rounding out the top 10. With grid penalties already confirmed for both Aston Martins and a strong recovery still needed from Antonelli, Russell heads into Saturday's race as the clear favourite to add a first Baku win to his collection of podiums here.