Executive Match Summary & Scoreboard
George Russell set the pace in opening practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, finishing clear at the top of the times ahead of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. It was exactly the response Russell needed after trailing team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli by 81 points in the championship heading into the weekend. The Antonelli Azerbaijan GP weekend took an alarming turn instead, as hydraulic failure sent smoke pouring from his Mercedes and forced him to stop out on track. We’ve seen championship leads swing on less than this in Baku before.
Charles Leclerc was the closest challenger to the Mercedes pace, third fastest on medium tyres and only narrowly behind Russell’s time. He finished clear of Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Antonelli recovered to fifth despite losing 25 minutes of track time to his stoppage, with Oscar Piastri sixth after McLaren held him back early to check the car for damage.
Further down the order, Carlos Sainz dealt with a brake fire at Williams before finishing 12th, and Isack Hadjar struggled with brake and engine trouble on his return to the Red Bull garage, ending the session down in 20th. It made for a chaotic opening hour in Baku, even before the grid turns its attention to Saturday’s qualifying. Baku’s long straights and unforgiving walls make Friday practice essential reading before the rest of the weekend unfolds. Full timing splits from the session are available in our Baku FP1 report.
Detailed First Half Narrative
Russell was quickest inside the opening ten minutes and never lost that position. Track conditions in Baku evolve fast through Friday practice, and the walls punish anyone who asks for a lot too early in the lap. The Mercedes driver looked comfortable from the outset and kept banking quicker times, eventually settling on a lap that left him clear of the rest of the field.
Verstappen responded well, closing the gap early before the track evolved further and Russell pulled clear again. Red Bull’s pace looked competitive from the first runs, and Verstappen never let the deficit grow much beyond that, a reasonable return given how the session played out.
Leclerc took a different approach, running the medium compound rather than the soft tyre most of the field chose early on. It cost him nothing. His lap, only narrowly off Russell’s benchmark, put him third overall and clear of Hamilton, who could not find the same rhythm all session in the sister Ferrari.
McLaren spent the early part of the hour working on Piastri’s car rather than sending him out. The team wanted to check for damage on the MCL40. It arrived in Baku with a new floor, revised bodywork and a rotating H-Wing element, the kind of modern motorsport technological innovations teams introduce almost every race weekend. Piastri eventually got laps in but missed a meaningful chunk of track time.
Detailed Second Half Narrative & Drama
Antonelli’s session unravelled midway through the hour. The championship leader reported a loss of hydraulics in his Mercedes, and smoke soon began pouring from the car. He had no choice but to stop out on track, and his session was on hold for close to 25 minutes while marshals dealt with the stricken car.
Mercedes could hardly afford the delay. The title fight goes to the wire from here, and with future calendar scheduling issues already shaping talk of next year, every hour of track time in 2026 carries real weight. Even so, Antonelli returned to set a time good enough for fifth fastest, a result that says plenty about his underlying pace despite the lost running.
Carlos Sainz had his own scare when the brakes on his Williams caught fire during the session. He got the car back to the garage safely and returned to finish 12th fastest, a solid recovery given the circumstances.
Isack Hadjar’s return to the Red Bull garage brought fresh trouble of a different kind. He dealt with both brake and engine issues through the session and ended up 20th fastest, ahead of only Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas. It capped a difficult opening day for the team, and a sign of how little margin Baku leaves for error.
It leaves the Antonelli Azerbaijan GP weekend needing a cleaner run in FP2. Mercedes will want a full picture of race pace before qualifying, and a repeat of Friday’s hydraulic scare is the last thing they need this deep into the title fight.
Player Ratings (home side)
Only two Mercedes drivers took part in the session, and their afternoons could hardly have looked more different from one another, with one setting the pace and the other left to recover from disaster.
George Russell (9/10): Russell set the pace from the first runs and stayed there, finishing well clear of Verstappen. Composed, quick and error free, he gave Mercedes exactly what was needed after a difficult run in the championship.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli (7/10): Antonelli looked strong before hydraulics failed and smoke forced him to stop on track, costing 25 minutes. He still returned to finish fifth fastest, proof of real pace even with a chunk of the session lost.
Player Ratings (opponent)
The rest of the grid had its own share of drama in Baku, with fire, damage checks and mechanical trouble all playing a part before a lap had even mattered much in the bigger picture.
Max Verstappen (8/10): Verstappen was the closest challenger all session, finishing behind Russell in second. Red Bull’s pace looked competitive from the opening runs, and Verstappen kept the gap tight throughout the hour.
Charles Leclerc (8/10): Leclerc took an unconventional route to third, running the medium compound rather than matching the soft tyre runs around him. His time still left him narrowly behind Russell’s pace, and clear of team-mate Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton (6/10): Hamilton could not match Leclerc’s pace on the same tyre strategy and finished behind his team-mate in the order. A quiet opening session by his standards, with more work needed before qualifying.
Oscar Piastri (6/10): Piastri missed a chunk of the session while McLaren checked the MCL40 for damage after fitting a new floor and bodywork. He still managed sixth once he ran, just behind Antonelli despite the lost time.
Carlos Sainz (6/10): Sainz had a fire scare when his Williams brakes caught alight mid-session, forcing a delay while the team assessed the car. He recovered well to finish 12th fastest by the end of practice.
Isack Hadjar (4/10): Hadjar’s return to the Red Bull garage brought fresh trouble, with both brake and engine issues limiting his running. He ended the session 20th fastest, only ahead of Stroll and Bottas.
Lance Stroll (5/10): Stroll finished just behind Hadjar in the order, with little to shout about across the hour. A quiet opening session for the team, with the focus now turning to Saturday’s qualifying runs.
Valtteri Bottas (5/10): Bottas rounded out the order behind Stroll, completing the session without further incident but well off the frontrunners’ pace. A tough opening hour, with plenty of ground to find before qualifying.
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