Russell takes pole for Azerbaijan GP as championship leader Antonelli crashes out to 16th
Mercedes driver George Russell secured a dominant pole position for the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli will start only 16th after crashing during qualifying.
George Russell delivered a commanding qualifying performance to take pole position for round 15 of the Formula 1 season on the Baku street circuit, marking his fifth pole of the year. According to Formula1.com, his Q3 time was almost a second faster than second-placed Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, while Yahoo Sports puts the precise gap at 0.837 seconds.
Antonelli's crash shakes up the session
The biggest story of qualifying, however, was not the winner but championship leader Kimi Antonelli — also Russell's Mercedes teammate — who crashed out in Q1. The Italian driver clipped the barriers at Turn 1, damaging his car's left-front wheel, and was eliminated from the session as a result. He will now start the race from a lowly 16th position, a stark contrast to his position atop the drivers' standings. Per Yahoo Sports, Antonelli currently leads the championship by 81 points over Russell.
The rest of the top of the grid
Row two features McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Red Bull's returning driver Isack Hadjar, who outqualified teammate Max Verstappen — starting eighth — by more than half a second. Row three pairs McLaren's Lando Norris with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, followed by Pierre Gasly, separated from Alpine teammate Franco Colapinto by Verstappen. Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson and Haas' Ollie Bearman round out the top ten.
Penalties reshuffle the order
Williams driver Carlos Sainz had originally qualified inside the top ten but dropped to 14th after receiving a five-place grid penalty for ignoring yellow flags during qualifying. At the back of the field, Cadillac's Sergio Perez will start 20th; a three-place penalty for impeding Piastri during qualifying did not affect his actual grid slot. Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll both received multiple grid penalties for taking on new power unit components.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is scheduled to start at 15:00 local time.
