George Russell takes 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix pole as championship leader Antonelli goes out in Q1
Russell set 1:42.526, 0.837 seconds clear of Charles Leclerc. Antonelli qualified P16.
George Russell took pole for the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix with 1:42.526 for Mercedes, 0.837 seconds clear of Charles Leclerc. It is the largest pole margin of the season so far, against an average of 0.194 seconds. It is Russell's 5th pole of the season.
The bigger story sits further down the order. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was eliminated in Q1 and qualified P16; the starting grid can still change if penalties apply.
The front of the grid
Charles Leclerc joins Russell on the front row, 1:43.363 to Russell's 1:42.526, with Oscar Piastri P3 at 0.838 seconds. The cars behind pole were separated by almost nothing; pole was the outlier.
The gap from pole to P10 was 2.437 seconds.
- RUSPOLE
- LEC+0.837s
- PIA+0.838s
- HAD+0.974s
- NOR+1.146s
- HAM+1.332s
- GAS+1.521s
- VER+1.555s
- SAI+2.040s
- COL+2.437s
Team by team
At Mercedes, Russell qualified P1 and Antonelli P16, a gap of 1.889 seconds where both set a time. Ferrari: Leclerc P2, Hamilton P6, 0.495 seconds apart in the deepest segment both completed. At McLaren, Piastri qualified P3 and Norris P5, a gap of 0.308 seconds where both set a time.
Red Bull Racing: Hadjar P4, Verstappen P8, 0.581 seconds apart in the deepest segment both completed. At Alpine, Gasly qualified P7 and Colapinto P10, a gap of 0.916 seconds where both set a time.
The cut lines
In Q2, five drivers went out: Oliver Bearman, Liam Lawson, Alexander Albon, Esteban Ocon and Arvid Lindblad. Q1 accounted for seven: Kimi Antonelli, Gabriel Bortoleto, Nico Hülkenberg, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Pérez, Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas. Neither Audi car made it out of Q1 at Baku City Circuit.
The season picture inside the teams
At Mercedes, Antonelli now leads Russell 8–7 in qualifying this season, with a median gap of 0.24%; the race head-to-head with both classified is 8–4. Every pairing, including these after round 15, is in every teammate battle.
What it means for the championship
Kimi Antonelli leads the championship on 292 points, 81 points ahead of Mercedes teammate George Russell, with 9 rounds to run including this one. One driver can still score 233 points, and nine drivers remain in mathematical reach. The lead has grown from 25 points after round 9.
On paper, qualifying hands the title race a clear opening: the challenger starts from pole and the leader from deep in the field. The race decides what that is worth.
The circuit and the data
History here offers a measure of what pole is worth. Of the classified races at Baku City Circuit in our archive, 4 of 9 were won from pole and 7 of 9 from the front row. The most recent, the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, went to Max Verstappen from P1. Last time here, Max Verstappen started from pole and finished P1. That is a record of past races, not a forecast for this one.
Russell's Qualifying Pace sits at the 90th percentile in the 2025–2026 Driver DNA window, which measures each driver against a teammate and is the strongest dimension of that profile.
For Leclerc, the strongest Driver DNA dimension is Race Result vs Teammate, at the 90th percentile.
Qualifying classification
The full order with every segment time, as published.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:43.615 | 1:43.462 | 1:42.526 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:44.360 | 1:43.780 | 1:43.363 |
| 3 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:45.014 | 1:43.814 | 1:43.364 |
| 4 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull Racing | 1:44.161 | 1:43.880 | 1:43.500 |
| 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:44.571 | 1:44.020 | 1:43.672 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:44.260 | 1:44.037 | 1:43.858 |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:44.489 | 1:44.106 | 1:44.047 |
| 8 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 1:44.041 | 1:43.706 | 1:44.081 |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 1:45.104 | 1:44.629 | 1:44.566 |
| 10 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 1:45.106 | 1:44.683 | 1:44.963 |
| 11 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 1:45.228 | 1:44.775 | — |
| 12 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 1:45.535 | 1:44.860 | — |
| 13 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 1:45.031 | 1:45.001 | — |
| 14 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 1:45.039 | 1:45.016 | — |
| 15 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 1:45.381 | 1:45.106 | — |
| 16 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:45.504 | — | — |
| 17 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 1:45.799 | — | — |
| 18 | Nico Hülkenberg | Audi | 1:45.920 | — | — |
| 19 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:46.593 | — | — |
| 20 | Sergio Pérez | Cadillac | 1:46.658 | — | — |
| 21 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:47.337 | — | — |
| 22 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 1:48.290 | — | — |
What's next
The race starts on 26 September 2026. Results land on the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix page, PBEcast follows the session live, and the standings, form and teammate views sit in 2026 championship standings, form guide and every teammate battle.
Evidence & methodology
Every number and name in this story comes from a frozen fact packet built from the PropSports F1 data plane. The draft passed the factual gate (no unsupported numbers, names, causes or outcomes) and the editorial gate before publication.
Limits
- Driver DNA is quoted from the 2025–2026 window as of publication, not as it stood before this event.
- Sector times, tyre choices and track conditions are not sourced. The starting grid can differ from qualifying when penalties apply; this story describes qualifying only.
Facts used (49)
- Event: 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix (projection: events)
- Championship round: round 15 (projection: events)
- George Russell best qualifying lap: 1:42.526 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Charles Leclerc best qualifying lap: 1:43.363 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Oscar Piastri qualifying position: P3 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Pole margin over second: 0.837 seconds (derived: difference from q1_lap, q2_lap)
- Third place gap to pole: 0.838 seconds (derived: difference from q1_lap, q3_lap)
- Kimi Antonelli qualifying position: P16 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Segment of elimination: Q1 (projection: qualifying classification (segment times))
- Poles this season including this one: 5th pole of the season (derived: our qualifying archive)
- Driver DNA Qualifying Pace (2025–2026): 90th percentile (projection: dna-driver)
- Leader points before this round: 292 points (projection: standings progression)
- George Russell deficit to the leader: 81 points (derived: difference from leader_points, c2_points)
- Rounds remaining including this one: 9 rounds (projection: events)
- Most points one driver can still score: 233 points (derived: rounds × race maximum + sprints × sprint maximum from rounds_left, sprints_left, race_max)
- Drivers who can still mathematically reach the leader: nine (derived: points + max_left ≥ leader points from max_left)
- Championship lead after round 9: 25 points (projection: standings progression)
- Comparison round: round 9 (projection: standings progression)
- Earlier races here won from pole: 4 of 9 (derived: our race archive)
- Earlier races here won from the front row: 7 of 9 (derived: our race archive)
- Winner's grid slot in 2025: P1 (derived: our race archive)
- Tenth place: P10 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Gap from pole to tenth: 2.437 seconds (derived: difference from q1_lap, qualifying classification)
- Average pole margin this season (to date): 0.194 seconds (derived: qualifying classification)
- George Russell qualifying position: P1 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Kimi Antonelli qualifying position: P16 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Mercedes intra-team gap in Q1: 1.889 seconds (derived: q1_ms difference from qualifying classification)
- Charles Leclerc qualifying position: P2 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Lewis Hamilton qualifying position: P6 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Ferrari intra-team gap in Q3: 0.495 seconds (derived: q3_ms difference from qualifying classification)
- Oscar Piastri qualifying position: P3 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Lando Norris qualifying position: P5 (projection: qualifying classification)
- McLaren intra-team gap in Q3: 0.308 seconds (derived: q3_ms difference from qualifying classification)
- Isack Hadjar qualifying position: P4 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Max Verstappen qualifying position: P8 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Red Bull Racing intra-team gap in Q3: 0.581 seconds (derived: q3_ms difference from qualifying classification)
- Pierre Gasly qualifying position: P7 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Franco Colapinto qualifying position: P10 (projection: qualifying classification)
- Alpine intra-team gap in Q3: 0.916 seconds (derived: q3_ms difference from qualifying classification)
- Drivers eliminated in Q1: seven (projection: qualifying classification)
- Drivers eliminated in Q2: five (projection: qualifying classification)
- Mercedes qualifying head-to-head this season (leader first): 8–7 (derived: qualifying classification)
- Mercedes race head-to-head this season, both classified (leader first): 8–4 (derived: race classification)
- Mercedes median qualifying gap this season: 0.24% (derived: qualifying classification)
- 2025 pole-sitter race result here: P1 (derived: our race archive)
- Driver DNA window: 2025–2026 (projection: dna-driver)
- Charles Leclerc strongest Driver DNA dimension: Race Result vs Teammate (projection: dna-driver)
- Charles Leclerc Race Result vs Teammate percentile: 90th percentile (projection: dna-driver)
- Race start: 26 September 2026 (projection: sessions)